


Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?

by Penny4yourThoughts



Series: The Crazy Family of Heroes [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers Family, Baby Peter Parker, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers (2012), Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to family, Gen, Happy Ending, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Kid Peter Parker, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Nick Fury is a Good Bro, Parent Tony Stark, Parenthood, Peter Parker Meets the Avengers, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Post-Avengers (2012), Precious Peter Parker, Protective Avengers, Protective Tony Stark, Secrets, Single Parents, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Tony Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24276604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penny4yourThoughts/pseuds/Penny4yourThoughts
Summary: Tony had been acting kind of off lately… The Avengers try to figure out what is going on, but what they find out is not what they had expectedOr in short:Tony acting strange because he is hiding his son from the avengers
Relationships: Clint Barton & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark, Nick Fury & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Steve Rogers, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Series: The Crazy Family of Heroes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786300
Comments: 110
Kudos: 1499
Collections: IronDad (and his Spiderson)





	1. New arrangements

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a preview so let me know what you think! I don't think chapter updates will take long, so be sure to come back for that! 
> 
> Feel free to check out my other work too! I would love to know what you think.

It was a few weeks after the battle of New York.

The city was slowly recovering and the now so called Avengers were trying to figure out their place with one another. Director Nick Fury kept in contact with the heroes and was aiming for a more long term deal with them.

For now the man was aiming for residence in the tower for all of them so that all the heroes were nearby when they were needed again. Right now the heroes would come and go, but nothing had been arranged so far. 

So that’s why Fury had called on a meeting at the tower at the crack of dawn. Great. 

After Tony, Cap was the first to arrive. “Ah Capsicle, good to see you again!” Tony called, faking excitement. 

“Hey Tony” The man replied casually. God, how that man was able to function at this hour was beyond him.  
“How is life in the twenty first century treating you?” Tony asked.

“Well, it’s a lot of adjusting but I’m learning new things everyday” He said happily. Always the enthusiasm and positivity, no wonder his father liked him so much… 

The man had grown on him a bit since the whole aliens attacking New York thing, but it was difficult from time to time to deal with his never ceasing optimism. 

They sat down at long glass table, overlooking the city. The silence was… not even that awkward. It wasn’t long before the others arrived as well. Clint and Natasha of course arriving at once and on the dot. Bruce following two minutes later. Thor was, probably saving the Universe somewhere, and wasn’t able to come but that would be a problem for a different time. 

Of course, Mr. Pirate was taking his sweet time so Tony stood up from the table and walked over to the ceiling-high windows avoiding the gazes from his fellow Avengers.

Around ten minutes after their agreed time, Nick Fury walked in, while also holding a strange colorful object.

He walked directly over to Tony without addressing the others. They all looked a bit confused and were trying to get a glance at what he was holding.

“I believe you lost this Stark. Please try not to let your things lie around next time.” Fury said while holding up, what looked to be a almost rainbow colored… Giraffe plushie?

“You found him!” Tony said a little excited and what could be seen as relief. Fury then pushed the object in his hands before walking over to the head of the table. The other Avengers however were still looking towards Tony to try and figure out what he had to do with a stuffed animal.

The man in question didn’t even look at them, although you couldn’t really see his eyes through his purple colored glasses anyway, and pocketed the thing. The head of the plushie was still sticking out of his pocket but the man was paying no further attention to it.

He had looked a bit tired earlier, but now he just looked happy and more relaxed.  
Before anyone could put more thought into it, Fury addressed them and started their meeting. 

"Good morning Avengers. I have summoned you all here today to discuss some new arrangements to the whole Avenger deal.  
Just three weeks ago you have successfully managed to stop an Alien attack on New York. The damage that has been done during this battle has caused concern with a lot of people and that is why I would like to discuss some new terms with you.

As of now Stark will be providing you with your own living quarters at the tower. By doing this you will not only be together might you be needed again but it could also gain us some trust with the people. Stark and I have been discussing this matter and he has arranged some places for you to live in this tower. 

You will all get your own floor but you will also have access to a common room area. Agreeing to this will also include access to training areas and some of the technology used at the tower. Yes Captain that also includes this thing called Internet. If you do not agree on this you will have to give us the locations to where you live so that we know where to find you"

The room was silent as everyone let the new information settle for a minute.

Stark stood up and walked over to the head of the table, grabbing his phone and starting a hologram in the middle of the table. Steve immediately sat forward, admiring this new technology. 

“So, now that Mr. Pirate has done his part, here is mine.” Tony gestured to the tower that appeared in front of them.

"Stark tower. Or now soon to be the official Avengers tower. As you can see here the tower consists of many different floors. Right at the top is the penthouse. You are not allowed up there unless JARVIS approves. Right here we have the laboratories, here people work on creating some of your weapons and other things that I won’t bother explaining to you right now. Then we have the party deck, but on that same floor you can also find the common room area. Then we have some other floors, but you can figure that out yourselves. Right here we have the private quarters. There, each of you will be getting your own floor and elevator. To those who like to be active, yes we also have a staircase.  
Like Nick described, you also have access to training areas and other activities which you can find right here.  
In case you haven’t noticed, this tower is mostly run by JARVIS. Say hi JARVIS”

________

________

“Hello Sir, and welcome other Avengers, it is nice seeing you again”

“Yeah, yeah thank you JARVIS. In case you have any questions, want to make purchases online, call someone or whatever, you ask him. He also manages most security so if you want to lock your room for the night, ask him. Are there any questions so far?”

“Can we also disagree on these terms or…?” Clint asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No. Not really anyway. If you want to decline my humble offer you can resign.” Tony replied smugly.

Nick Fury sighed “No Agent Barton, you agree on these terms or agree to work on your own, but then you will no longer take part in the Avengers initiative.”

“But if we do agree, what happens then? Are we stuck on any rules? This all sounds very promising, but…” Steve commented hesitantly.

“Well Captain, I understand your concern. If you agree on these terms you will get to live here and make use of everything this tower has to offer. Other than a few public appearances here and there, there is no real catch to the deal. It is meant to offer the people here a sense of safety knowing that their heroes are nearby but won’t just go rogue either.” Fury assured the captain calmly.

Tony was looking at his phone, before straightning up and adressing the room.

"Well, I'll give you guys a few hours to decide. Just give me or my secretary a call when you have decided to move in. I need to go, but I'm hoping to see you guys here soon." Tony said before stepping out of the room not much later

The other Avengers hadn't missed the fact however that the man kept a protective hand over the plushie, which he tried to play of as casually pocketing his hands.

"Is it just me or was Stark in more of a hurry than normal?" Clint commented after the man had left.

"No, you weren't Clint but Stark is probably just going to his own lab or something." Natasha said.

Meanwhile Fury just looked on and Steve was admiring the hologram.

"It's called an hologram, Captain" Fury said, startling the man out of his thoughts. "Well, just like Stark, I would like to know as well when you have made your decisions. You will hear from me when you are needed again. You are dismissed" Fury said before also leaving the room. 

"Wow, I really got some high-school vibes from that statement." Clint laughed while resting his feet on the table.

"You never even finished highschool, Barton" Natasha said with an evil grin.

"Yeah that's true." Clint replied, leaning back in his chair. 

Bruce was also staring at the hologram, seemingly lost in thought.

A comfortable silence rested over the room for a few minutes, where everyone gathered their thoughts and made up their minds.

"Well, I think it's great" Clint interrupted the silence. "JARVIS was it right?" "Yes Mr.Barton, how can I assist you?" "Let Tony know that I agree on these new terms and that I will be using his training area"

"Certainly, Mr. Barton" the stoic voice answered. 

"Well, I have been using the labs for quite a while so I think I'll get back to that" Bruce agreed camly and stepping out of the room moments later. 

Steve was still looking a bit conflicted. "What's on your mind Steve?" Natasha asked crossing her arms.

"It's just... Everything is still new to me and... I mean New York apartments aren't really cheap, so it seems like a great deal, but it's still a lot to take in"

"Well I guess you better start packing" Natasha smiled, already knowing his decision.

"I guess I will" Steve said.

He looked out of the large windows, watching as the sun painted the sky in beautiful colors before also leaving the room. Ready to start a new chapter in life. 

And so the Avengers initiative was officially born.


	2. Of public appearances and secret bases?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers are moving in to the tower! They encounter a few _odd _moments with Tony. Will they figure out what is going on?__
> 
>   
> _Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:_  
>  _"It's just... Everything is still new to me and... I mean New York apartments aren't really cheap, so it seems like a great deal, but it's still a lot to take in"  
>  "Well I guess you better start packing" Natasha smiled, already knowing his decision.  
> "I guess I will" Steve said.  
> He looked out of the large windows, watching as the sun painted the sky in beautiful colors before also leaving the room. Ready to start a new chapter in life.  
> And so the Avengers initiative was officially born. ___  
> 

Over the next few days, the Avengers slowly moved in to the tower. The tower was truly a magnificent place to be. The Avengers hadn’t really talked much to each other as everyone was busy moving boxes and figuring out the maze that was better known as the Avengers tower. JARVIS had to help a lost Steve at least 3 times before he knew his way around.  
And although the Avengers hadn’t talked much to each other, they did bump into each other every now and then. Tony however, was pretty much not to be found. The only time anyone saw him was when Cap walked towards the elevators carrying the last of his boxes.

He was just about to press the button when Tony walked out, looking more disheveled than he had ever seen the man.

“Hey Tony…- wait are you okay?” Steve asked.

“Peachy Cap, but if you will excuse me I have more important matters right now” The man said hurrying past him.

It was odd, but right now he wasn’t going to comment. He realized that he didn’t even really know the man so who was he to judge? Maybe he should work on that.

_______

About a two weeks after their meeting, the team was called together again. This time by Tony.

When everyone was settled in their chairs at around eleven in the morning, Tony walked in the room. He still looked pretty tired, his clothes were kind of rumpled but he tried to cover it up with an easy smile and dark colored sunglasses.

“Good morning my fellow Avengers” Tony started. “I noticed that you all moved in, to that I say be welcome. Now, you may be wondering why I called you here today. Sorry to disappoint you, the world isn’t ending and there are no real threats.”

They all noticed the slight twitch in his smile when he talked about the world possibly ending, but no one really payed attention to it. However, they had been noticing some odd behaviour in Tony, but other than Natasha and Fury, none of them had known the man for a longer period of time, so perhaps the behaviour was just part of his personality. It wasn’t anything weird per se, just little things here and there.

For example, his absence despite playing a major role in the Avengers initiative, his often rare appearances ranging from looking tired and less put together than what they thought was normal, to confident and without a single care in the world. Sometimes they saw the man make his way into or out of the tower while talking hurriedly on the phone. 

Right now, he looked stressed and hurried. Like he didn’t really want to be there.

“So, uhm… Anyway. Onto why I called you here this morning” Tony sighed a little before continuing. “There are two things I’d like to discuss. First one being our public image. Fury wants us to make a public appearance, where we will be talking about our new living situation. Or _your _living situation, since I already live here. Then onto the next one, HYDRA.”__

__Everyone jumped back at the name. They were all a little too familiar with the awful name._ _

__“Sorry to throw that on to you like that. I- uh.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “A new, or what we are assuming is new, HYDRA base popped up on our radars. As far as we know nothing too dangerous yet. So don’t worry your little heads too much. Fury just wants us to check it out a little, see if we know the area stuff like that. I have printed out the locations of this base, along with some other information Mr. Pirate wants us to look at.  
Was that all? I think that was all… JARVIS?”_ _

__“You have indeed mentioned all the important updates sir.” The british voice said through the overhead speakers_ _

__“Great, any questions?”_ _

__It was a lot to take in all at once. Not only had the man been talking pretty fast, he also dropped the message that a new HYDRA base had popped up. Natasha was staring intently at him as though she was trying to see through him, but couldn’t figure out what was going on. Clint was in a similar position._ _

__Steve shook himself out of the slight daze he was stuck in. “So, the public appearance… When will this be?” At this moment he was choosing to ignore the HYDRA matter and asked about the more light-hearted part first. It was too early to be talking about stuff like that._ _

__“Oh right” Stark said. “Pepper will be hosting a meeting tomorrow at… Two in the afternoon, you just have to show up, answer a few questions and that’s it. Maybe smile for some pictures no real problem._ _

__And no before you start asking Barton, you can’t decline this one. It was part of the deal to make a few public appearances. The amount of them will decrease over time but for now the people need to be reassured.” Tony hurried, before the archer could say anything._ _

__They discussed some minor details for the next twenty minutes or so, before leaving and going their own ways again._ _

__“Is it me, or is Stark acting different?” Steve asked Bruce as they were walking out of the conference room._ _

“I noticed it as well. He is not himself. And well, Tony is a very… _Unique _man, this wasn’t like him” Bruce replied.__

____“You guys are right, he is acting strange” Natasha said while sneaking up from behind them.  
Bruce breathed out a small curse word at the scare, while Steve looked like a kicked puppy for a second. _ _ _ _

__

____They continued to walk down the hall in relative silence before each going their way._ _ _ _

__

____Steve was just getting in a flow of punching a few punching bags down at the gym when he was interrupted by the spy. The red head walked up to him with a gentle smile and looked him up and down._ _ _ _

__

____“You’re straining too much” the spy said._ _ _ _

__

____“Well, I’m not really trying to fight anyone, I’m just trying to burn some energy”_ _ _ _

__

____“Can you even burn energy?” Natasha asked smiling._ _ _ _

__

____Steve smirked a little at her comment. “Not that I don’t enjoy your company, but I am assuming you’ve come here for a reason?” Steve asked while grabbing a towel and some water. “Want any?”_ _ _ _

__

____“No thanks.”_ _ _ _

__

____“So why are you here?”_ _ _ _

“The same reason as you, Rogers. _And _I’d like to know if you happen to know more about Stark’s odd behaviour.”__

______Steve smiled knowingly. Of course the spy had to know what was going on._ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

______“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know either. The only thing I know is that I bumped into him a few days after I started moving in, and that he’d seem hurried. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now-”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

______“Things are starting to add up” Natasha finished._ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

______“Exactly”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

______“I guess we find out sooner or later” She sighed. “Stark isn’t necessarily good at keeping most of his secrets, if you remember the whole ‘I am Iron man’ thing.”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

______“Guess you’re right.” Steve breathed out, while wiping some sweat from his forehead._ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

______“Want to spar?” He asked next._ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

______“Sure, Captain Rogers. Let’s see what you have” She smiled, and got ready for their fight._ _ _ _ _ _

____

_____ _

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter number two! What is going on with Tony?  
> Despite what my AO3 account says, it is pretty late where I live and I need to go to sleep! But I managed to get out a second chapter before bed so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> _Why do I always have to be inspired and creative, just before I go to bed? Not that I am complaining but still..._
> 
> _  
> _Anyway, goodnight or good afternoon, chapter updates will follow soon! ( hehe that rhymes)_  
> _
> 
> _  
> _Keep smiling, and enjoy today!_  
> _
> 
> _  
> _O Penny4yourThoughts__  
> 


	3. A day of press conferences and quiet evenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New chaper is here! I'm so happy to see that so many peope are enjoying my work!  
> Thank you so much for reading, commenting and leaving kudos, it truly makes my day.
> 
> Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?: 
> 
> _“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know either. The only thing I know is that I bumped into him a few days after I started moving in, and that he’d seem hurried. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now-”_
> 
> _“Things are starting to add up” Natasha finished._
> 
> _“Exactly”_
> 
> _“I guess we find out sooner or later” She sighed. “Stark isn’t necessarily good at keeping most of his secrets, if you remember the whole ‘I am Iron man’ thing.”_
> 
> _“Guess you’re right.” Steve breathed out, while wiping some sweat from his forehead._
> 
> _“Want to spar?” He asked next._
> 
> _“Sure, Captain Rogers. Let’s see what you have” She smiled, and got ready for their fight. ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >> Kind of important!  
> \-- I’m changing timelines a little bit so I recommend reading this little note before this chapter or else you might get confused. I did try to explain it in this chapter as well, but this is just to back it up a little.  
> Pepper and Tony got together just at the end of Iron man one, also 2008 in this AU (alternate universe) but broke up at the end of Iron man 2, 2010. They were on a break for two years but now 2012, in which this story takes place , they are trying to make amends. I'm trying to go along with the order of the movies but I had to change a few details to make this work a little better.

The next day everyone was up early and getting ready for the press conference that afternoon. 

Security was loading the press into the room and Happy made sure all was safe. 

Two minutes before the start of the meeting Tony walked in to to the little waiting area, where the other Avengers were already waiting. 

“Look who’s early” Clint laughed.

“Trying to be fashionably late, Stark?” Natasha said, crossing her arms.

“You got it” The man smiled. He had an easy expression on his face this afternoon. He was wearing an expensive suit, along with yet again some colored glasses. He had his hands in his pockets and was rocking on his feet a little.

Before anyone could say anything more , Pepper walked out of the conference room and addressed everyone.

“Okay guys, everyone is ready and waiting for you” Pepper said while holding the big wooden door open.

They all stood up, Tony being one of the last to enter the room. Before he walked into the room he stood in front of Pepper, but didn’t say anything at first. There was some tension going on, but no one dared to say or do anything. Tony looked at her with a gentle smile, but remained silent. He looked like he wanted to say something but was scared to say it. Pepper looked at him almost the exact same way. She sighed a little before looking down and meeting Tony’s eyes again with a kind and nervous smile.

“Thank you Pep.” Tony said softly, almost in a whisper and walked further into the room, followed by Natasha.

Everyone was aware of the fact that Tony and Pepper were on a break. The shenanigans that had taken place two years ago put a strain on their relationship, causing the breakup.

As far as the others were aware, their relationship was on the mend, but nothing was settled yet. Tony however, still looked madly in love.

The room was big and very modern looking. At one end of the room stood a long table, facing the crowd of reporters from all over the world. 

People were talking and cameras were flashing, filling up the room with sound and lights. Pepper stepped in the room confidently and addressed everyone, explaining that the meeting would begin soon while also asking for respect.

As soon as Pepper stepped aside, many hands shot up in the air and people started shouting names. So much for asking for respect.

Pepper ignored this and pointed to someone in the front row.

The tall man stood up and started the conference “Hello, I’m Jack from CNN. Mr. Stark I was wondering, why did you decide to let the so called 'Avengers' move into the previously called Stark tower? Is there something going on? And has it something to do with Iron man?”

Tony reached forward to lower the microphone in front of him, when Natasha noticed a strange mark on his hand. She didn’t get the time to look at it longer, as Stark quickly pulled away his hand as if noticing her stare.

“The group of people that have joined me here today are part of the recently established Avengers initiative. They are a group of remarkable people with different skill sets and strengths. They each take a part in making this world a safer place to live in. After the events of New York, we deemed it necessary to be seen as a group of, as one might say heroes, so that we can do what needs to be done if something like this ever arises again” Tony said professionally while quickly pointing to someone in the back of the room.

The woman stood up “Hi ,I’m from the BBC, Mr.Stark you said that these group of people are here to help, may something like the alien attack on New York happen again. Do we need to assume that this _will _happen again and how do we know we can trust these people?”__

__The slight shiver that went through Tony’s body at the mention of New York definitely didn’t go unnoticed by Natasha, but Tony continued like it didn’t bother him._ _

__“We never know what might happen in the future and if something like this will happen again” a few murmurs went around the room at the mention of this “But I can assure you that we will do whatever it takes to make sure everyone is safe” Tony hurried a bit. Behind his red glasses, his eyes were a bit wild._ _

__Multiple people started talking and shouting names at the people sitting across from them._ _

__“Let’s move on. Does anyone have any questions for our other heroes?” Pepper interjected  
“You, Miss-?_ _

__“Barbara, Fox channel. Captain Steve Rogers, what was it like to come out of the ice?_ _

__________ _

__The press conference went on for about two more hours before pretty much every question had been answered. In the meantime, Natasha had been paying close attention to Tony. He seemed distracted every time someone talked about their powers or experiences, like he knew everything already. (He probably did anyway). But at every mention of New York, he started to fidget or his breathing would speed up a little. At one point he rubbed a hand over his face and Natasha noticed the strange mark again. It was moon crescent shaped, but it looked more like a tiny bite mark. The shape was too odd to be from a lab accident, but everytime she tried to subtly take a better look, the man shifted and moved his hands._ _

__Everyone was pretty worn out by the end of the meeting. For maybe the first time since moving in however, Tony went with them to the common room. Everyone stood close to one another in the elevator, while a comfortable silence filled the somewhat confined space. Tony was in the back checking his phone every few seconds._ _

__He would look at his phone, let out a sigh before staring straight ahead again._ _

__A few minutes later, the elevator doors opened and everyone stepped out. Most of the team immediately dropped down on couches or arm chairs, groaning loudly._ _

__Tony went straight to the medicine cabinet for some pain killers._ _

__They all thought for a second he would grab some alcohol, but the man simply grabbed a glass of water before sitting down himself._ _

__They continued to talk about the meeting, sharing their weird or funny discoveries, embarrassing each other before it was almost time for dinner._ _

__“Tony, why don’t you join us?” Steve asked, now standing in the adjoining kitchen._ _

__Tony, however was staring down at his phone yet again, before straightening up. “Maybe not today Spangles but… I can make some time later this week”_ _

__“And are you actually going to be there?” Natasha asked smugly._ _

__“We would all love for you to join us, Tony” Banner followed._ _

__Tony was looking at them all, considering the invitation._ _

__“Uh yeah sure. I do need to make a call first though, be right back” He said before quickly stepping out of the room._ _

__He most likely went into whatever room and sound proofed it, so there was no use in trying to eavesdrop. The curiosity on everyone’s faces was clear enough though._ _

__By now they all had noticed that Tony was acting different. He was distracted more often than not, tired and for the most part just absent despite being one of the founders of the initiative._ _

__Not much later the man stepped back into the room. “Now that things are settled let’s eat. My treat.” He said casually._ _

__“What’s been settled?” Natasha asked curiously. The man just smiled before listing off some places they could order from. They eventually settled on the shawarma place, where they shared their first meal as a team._ _

__The dinner went without a hitch. It was calm and it felt like they had known each other for years. Tony was only distracted for a little bit for the first part of the evening, before a message on his phone made him smile and relax._ _

__Whatever it was, it had put the man at ease. His shoulders seemed to relax and he was actually able to enjoy their evening._ _

__The weird mark that Natasha had noticed earlier was completely gone by now and if she wasn’t a spy she would surely have forgotten about it._ _

__Later that evening, they were all over the news. For now people seemed to be relieved, knowing that there were heroes who had their backs._ _

__The team enjoyed the rest of their evening together. Laughing, playing games, and generally enjoying being in the moment for once. For the first time it almost felt like they were a family._ _

__They certainly had a long way to go and would soon learn more about each other, but for now things were calm._ _

__Everyone returned to their own floors around the time the moon was high up in the sky and stars filled up almost every inch of darkness. New York was showing off her beauty through the large windows even at night, while the fire place on the common room floor crackled in the background._ _

__“I really enjoyed spending time with you guys” Tony said softly, breaking the silence. “I think we should do this more often.”_ _

__“Then you should come down more often” Bruce said smiling._ _

__“Perhaps” Tony smiled while he looked at the floor. The man left the room after that and went up to the penthouse._ _

__In that moment almost everyone seemed to forget about his odd behaviour. All except for one._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here you have it! Do you think someone will find out soon what Tony is hiding or will he try to hide his secret forever?  
> Only the next chapters will tell!
> 
> \- Don't worry about this ending, this story is far from finished, but I wanted to include some domestic Avengers as well. Next chapters won't take long either so don't forget to subscribe and come back for that! Perhaps this chapter was a bit weaker from the rest, but some light-heartedness is also nice, right?  
> The Avengers will also learn more about a certain someone soon, so don't worry about the wait either. <3
> 
> As always, keep smiling, and let's embrace ourselves today
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts


	4. Secrets revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team seem to learn a lot more about Tony then they had expected. Will Tony's secret still be safe? 
> 
> _Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:_
> 
> _“I really enjoyed spending time with you guys” Tony said softly, breaking the silence. “I think we should do this more often.”  
>  “Then you should come down more often” Bruce said smiling.  
> “Perhaps” Tony smiled while he looked at the floor. The man left the room after that and went up to the penthouse.  
> In that moment almost everyone seemed to forget about his odd behaviour. All except for one. ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I, of course in no way mean to offend or harm anyone by describing Tony’s behaviour as odd. I described it as different for Tony through the point of view of the Avengers and the way they view Tony. I respect all my readers and I don't mean to offend anyone. If you do feel uncomfortable or offended please let me know and maybe you could help me on how to change it.
> 
> Thank you, and enjoy reading!

The days after the press conference were pretty normal and relaxed. Tony had been a bit more present, but what stood out the most was that he now carried an easy smile again.

He would still be missing for hours at the time each day, but he also made time to be with the team a little more. It still wasn’t much, but at least they could get to know each other a bit more.

After the press conference both the media and civilians seemed to be satisfied as well. New York was recovering quicker than before and life seemed to be returning to the city that never sleeps.

About a week after the conference, the team was summoned yet again by Nick Fury for an official meeting. They all had their suspicions it would be either about the HYDRA base they’d been looking into or the press conference.

Tony for once, was early this time. He greeted his teammates with a smile and stepped into the room with confidence.

Some time later, after Nick Fury was done talking, it was Tony’s turn to take control. As far as they knew, Tony had been hacking into cameras and other technology around and inside of the abandoned building to see if it was worth exploring. 

Tony walked towards the head of the table and grabbed his phone from his suit pocket. As he pulled out his phone, something dropped to the ground. The man’s smile turned nervous for a quick second before he bent down and picked the thing up. No one had been able to see what it was from how quickly the man hid the item. Steve, however was now frowning at Tony.

Perhaps he did see what it was… 

Tony continued like nothing happened, showing the hologram map of the place. So far the building seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, but with something like HYDRA you could never be too sure. He had also managed to get ahold of some files, but all of it was coded and seemed to be nothing important. 

They continued to discuss what to do next and how to infiltrate the base. 

“I think it’s best if we handle quickly. Maybe even leave tomorrow morning.” Steve suggested.

“I agree… Who know what they might be up to” Clint continued.

“We could indeed leave tomorrow, but that would mean you guys aren’t as prepared as I would like.” Fury argued.

“Since when do you care about our well-being?” Clint laughed.

Natasha ignored him and simply rolled her eyes. “If we go tomorrow we’re going to be relatively early. The base only popped up on our radars recently right?” Natasha argued back. 

“Don’t you think that is a bit strange either then?” Bruce said. 

“Our scans are up and running every single day. The reason this base was visible now could be anything from a mistake on their side to our tech finally breaking through their security. Seeing as the base is mostly empty I think it’s because of its age. It is definitely worth exploring” Nick said.

“But are we able to infiltrate it, Fury?” Steve questioned. It was clear to all why the man was eager to jump on this case. Going in unprepared would be dangerous, but waiting longer could be dangerous as well.

“Mr. Pirate over here was almost right” Tony interrupted. “Seeing from what I’ve found, the building is indeed old. They tried to hide it inside of a mountainside but recent weather conditions and a small earthquake caused the base to get exposed. You might not find any agents that could give us more information, but we could learn more from what you guys would find”

“Alright.” Natasha said, crossing her arms in what seemed to be her signature move at this point. “But what do you mean with _‘you guys’ _’? Are you not coming with us?__

__This seemed to catch the man off guard. The others immediately turned towards him as well._ _

____

__“Well I-” The man stammered, before straightening up “No, I’m not going with you guys.” Tony said._ _

____

__Even Fury seemed to be surprised by his answer before raising his eyebrows and shrugging his shoulders._ _

____

__“What? Why?” The team argued all at once. “You can't just leave us hanging Tony!” Steve said getting up._ _

____

__“I think I can. I have other things that need my attention”_ _

____

__“Like what?” Clint argued while raising his voice._ _

“We know that you have been trying to hide _something _from us Tony” Bruce tried to reason.__

__Tony seemed to pale a bit at this, but didn’t argue him._ _

______ _ _

____

____“I’ll explain some day, guys but… Right now I can’t okay?” The man said desperately._ _ _ _

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__At this the team stopped as well. Whatever he _was _hiding, was truly important to the man.___ _

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______“I can’t okay?”_ _ _ _ _ _

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______The silence that filled the room was deafening. No one really knew what to say or where to look anymore. Steve was staring at the man’s pocket as if trying to figure out what was going on by only that._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Right” Fury said, breaking the silence. Everybody had forgotten that he was even there for a second “I’ll give you until tonight, alright Stark?” The man said, staring directly in Tony’s eyes. The man nodded at this, before the buzzing of his phone caught his attention._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“I-I need to go" the man said hurrying out of the room._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Tony-” Steve tried to argue, but the man was already gone._ _ _ _ _ _

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______The team all let out a sigh._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Stark has a lot on his mind alright?” Fury said a bit more softly. “Give him some time”. He said before stepping out of the room as well._ _ _ _ _ _

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______The others remained in their seats, going over what had happened in their heads._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“I think we can all agree that whatever Stark seems to be hiding is of something really significant. Perhaps even dangerous knowing the man” Clint uttered angrily._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“The battle of New York, as some may call it, has really done a number on Tony. Perhaps we should just listen to Fury and give him time” Bruce declared._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Could be Bruce, but this has been going on for a long time now and there have been numerous of odd moments with him. Clearly something is going on. Could be that either something is going on with him or with something close to him” Natasha stated, walking over to the window._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Tony has indeed been showing some odd behaviour lately. Whatever it is, perhaps we should start by offering some support.” Steve remarked._ _ _ _ _ _

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______At hearing him speak up, Natasha spun around quickly. “You saw what he dropped though, right?” Natasha hurried._ _ _ _ _ _

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______Everyone immediately focussed on Steve. The man shifted uncomfortably at this._ _ _ _ _ _

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______He looked down at the ground before continuing. “I couldn’t really see what it was… I don’t even think what I saw was right…”_ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Come on, don’t keep us waiting Spangles!” Clint spoke, leaning forward._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“It looked like a… L-like a pacifier? I know it sounds crazy and it probably is, but that’s what I thought I saw. Maybe I saw it wrong though, I don’t know how much things have changed since-” Steve rambled_ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Okay that’s enough, Steve” Natasha said._ _ _ _ _ _

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______For the umpteenth time, the room got filled with silence. This one was tense though._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Okay, now I am really concerned” Clint spoke up._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“I am too” Bruce stated._ _ _ _ _ _

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______Later that day, Natasha was walking through the hallway leading up to the common room.  
She was just about to take the elevator to the training area, when the elevator opened up revealing an anxious Tony. No scratch that, he looked terrified.  
“Tony-” Natasha spoke up, stepping closer._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

______ _ _

______ _ _

______The man was holding something close to his chest, but she couldn’t make out what it was.  
It was kind of big, but well hidden by his jacket._ _ _ _ _ _

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______ _ _

______Wide eyes shot up to meet hers, before he spoke up. “Not now Nat” Tony hurried, before slamming down on the door button next to him “JARVIS…- “ Natasha heard him say before the elevator doors closed again._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

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______The weird encounter only increased her worries. For multiple hours no one heard of the man. Only getting a call from Fury that the man wouldn’t be joining them on their mission._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

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______“Stark sent you all the information he managed to find, but you’re gonna have to go without him.You’re leaving tomorrow morning at 5” Fury said._ _ _ _ _ _

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______Before anyone could say more, the man hung up.  
_________ _ _ _ _ _

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______No one really slept that night. The situation with Tony seemed to keep everyone up.  
Natasha hadn’t said anything about her encounter that day, realising that it might only upset the team further. _ _ _ _ _ _

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______The next morning, Tony was still nowhere to be found. Loading up the quinjet happened in silence and the few hour flight passed in the same style. Everyone’s mind was occupied._ _ _ _ _ _

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______As it turned out, the base ended up not being anything of significance. Even if there was more hidden in the walls of the base, there was no safe way discovering it without the proper tech. They made use of everything they had with them, but even then nothing could tell them anything._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

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______Steve called over the comms that it was time to head back. They’d been there for hours, but they had found nothing. Arms tired from carrying their guns and minds exhausted from staying focussed, they headed back._ _ _ _ _ _

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______It was a bit disappointing to return to the tower without anything important, but a bit relieving at the same time that it wasn’t anything dangerous either. At least from what they could find._ _ _ _ _ _

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______By the time they got back, it was already turning dark outside. Right now, the team minus Iron man were standing in the elevator on their way up after the mission. “To the penthouse JARVIS” Natasha said._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“You do not have the right authorization to go up there” The mechanic voice spoke from the hidden speakers._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“It’s important JARVIS” Steve said, still looking a bit freaked out at the voice_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

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______“May I ask what is so important?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

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______“We have information on the HYDRA base that Stark needs to know about. It is highly important” Natasha lied easily. The men in the elevator glanced at her, but decided to go with it._ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

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______“Very well. I will allow entry to the penthouse. Arriving soon” JARVIS said, believing the lie._ _ _ _ _ _

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______The team stepped out of the elevator moments later, only to be met with a dark space._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“I thought he’d be back by now” Steve whispered, while looking around._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“He is” Natasha said, looking at the light coming from, what seemed to be the kitchen._ _ _ _ _ _

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______The penthouse was huge, modern and mostly quiet._ _ _ _ _ _

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______They walked towards the light coming from the kitchen in tension. They had absolutely no idea what to expect._ _ _ _ _ _

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______Coming closer they could now hear the lowered voice of the mysterious man. He had his back turned towards them. Only being visible from the lights that hung from the cabinets._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“You had quite the busy day huh? But don’t you worry. We're gonna have some nice warm milk and then we are going to sleep. How does that sound? Tomorrow we will have all the time in the world” Tony murmured softly. From what they could see, he looked to be talking to himself in a soft and kind voice…_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

______ _ _

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______The others looked at each other concerned and walked closer to the man._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“No more tummy aches huh? All comfy” the man said softly._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Tony?” Natasha spoke up bit gravely._ _ _ _ _ _

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______The man tensed at her voice. He didn’t move for a few seconds, while the team waited for any type of reaction._ _ _ _ _ _

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______The man turned around slowly._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Well, good evening guys” Tony said seriously, now facing them._ _ _ _ _ _

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______In his arms was…_ _ _ _ _ _

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______A baby._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Warm milk anyone?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _

______ _ _

______ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear, those were a lot of words! I'm so glad people are actually enjoying this and I hope this chapter was still interesting to read.  
> Let me know what you think and what you think might happen next! I hope this isn't getting too long, but the real story is about to begin... Get ready for more
> 
> That's it for today, be sure to come back soon for more updates! 
> 
> Keep smiling, and take care of yourselve and those around you!
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts


	5. The Avengers meet baby Stark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The others have just returned from their recent mission and decide to check out what Tony has been hiding... 
> 
> Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:  
>  _“Tony?” Natasha spoke up gravely._
> 
> _The man tensed at her voice. He didn’t move for a few seconds, while the team waited for any type of reaction._
> 
> _The man turned around slowly._
> 
> _“Well, good evening guys” Tony said seriously, now facing them._
> 
> _In his arms was…_
> 
> _A baby._
> 
> _“Warm milk anyone?” ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight trigger warning for mention of vomiting! It is not graphic at all, but just in case I have put a little star (*) in front of the scene and another when the scene ends so you should be able to read past it.

“Warm milk anyone?”

The team stood absolutely frozen at the beginning of the kitchen. Tony raised a questioning eyebrow at their reaction. Their eyes were shooting between the baby and Tony before Clint spoke up.

“Tony… What is that?”

“This? Oh this is just some warm milk”

“No-” Clint wanted to argue before Steve interrupted.

“Tony who is this?” The man asked with furrowed brows. Natasha for once was still staring in shock, not daring to say anything.

“You know, this is actually a huge break in on my privacy. I could just have you escorted out.” Tony said casually. This seemed to shock Natasha out of her daze. She was the one who had insisted on checking in on Tony and therefore pretty much breaking into his house. Bruce was the only one who decided it wasn’t a good idea to barge in on him like that, so the man had decided to head to his own floor. If only he knew what was happening right now.

“Tony, since when do you have a kid?” She asked while stepping a bit closer.

The kid whined a bit in the man’s arms, immediately grabbing the attention of the man. 

“Okay I got it buddy. Let’s move this to the couch shall we? Then you can explain why you decided to barge in on me like this” Tony stated.

He sat down on the luxurious couch in the modern living room. “JARVIS, turn on some lights will you? Nothing too bright though”. Tony got situated on the couch while the team slowly crept closer. This was the last thing they had expected to happen… Slowly a few lights and the fireplace turned on , casting a gentle atmosphere around the room  
Natasha sat down next to Tony, eyes still fixed on the little guy in his arms. Her eyes shone with love and curiosity. Steve and Clint moved to sit on the opposite couch, sitting so that they faced Tony as well.

Tony held the kid with the cutest brown curls on his head, on his lap. The kid was sucking on a similar pacifier to the one they had seen the day before. They also noticed the child was holding on tightly to the rainbow giraffe plushie that had been returned to him some time ago. The little one looked tired and a bit pale, probably explained by the stomach ache Tony mentioned. 

Tony removed the pacifier from the kid’s mouth before bringing the bottle with warm milk closer. He accepted it reluctantly, but seemed to be perfectly content in his dad’s arms. He was sniffling a little and had droopy eyes, most likely caused by the hour of the night. 

The team sat shocked, looking at the man who turned out to be a dad. Said man, had the softest of smiles on his face, staring at the baby with stars in his eyes. The kid was clearly the most important thing to him and now things started to slowly fall into place.

“So-” Natasha interrupted “Why uh- why don’t you introduce us to the little guy?”

It was quiet for a moment before Tony spoke up, looking at her.

“This-” Tony started, looking at his friends -” is Peter, everyone”

_‘Peter’ _was still drinking from his bottle, but was now also looking at the other occupants of the room. He didn’t seem frightened, just a bit curious. His eyes were huge and bright. The dark brown orbs staring at them with so much wonder.__

__Steve waved at the little guy._ _

__They were already falling in love with the boy. A few seconds passed before Peter pushed away the bottle, eyebrows furrowing and whimpering a little. Immediately everyone cringed at the sight. Tony moved the bottle away, Natasha grabbing it from his hands and placing it on the table in front of them._ _

__Tony moved Peter so that they were chest to chest. He held onto him by placing one hand on his soft back and one under his bum. He started slowly rubbing the boy’s back through the sheep patterned footed-pyjamas. To help further soothe the boy, Tony started rocking from side to side gently, whispering soft reassurances and shushing his whimpers away._ _

__“What’s up with the urchin?” Clint asked softly, trying to hide the fact that the team had been watching for a little while._ _

__“Tummy aches. He had been a bit upset these past few days. We had to go to the emergency room yesterday because he was wheezing again. Turns out he caught a small flu somehow… I don’t even know why I’m telling you guys this” Tony said shrugging his eyebrows a bit, obviously still not trusting their intentions._ _

__“I feel like we should apologize, Tony” Steve said remorseful._ _

__“He’s right Tony… We were truly worried about you but shouldn’t have burst in on you like we did. And I speak for all of us if I say I’m sorry” Natasha said truthfully._ _

__Tony stared at them for a little bit. “Why were you worried about me though? Worried enough to break in like this”_ _

__“Well…” Clint started “You had been showing some odd behaviour, which actually makes sense now, but..”_ _

__“We were worried New York had affected you more than we might have noticed at the time” Steve finished_ _

__“What kind of odd behaviour are we even talking about here?” Tony asked, still rocking the boy in his arms._ _

__“First of all your absence during this whole Avengers thing. Then you would be extremely tired one day and full of energy the next day.” Natasha spoke up_ _

__“Fury hand delivered that colorful plushie on our first meeting” Clint continued, pointing at said plushie in the child’s hand._ _

__“Then you bumped into me before hurrying away without any explanation. You also dropped a pacifier in the middle of a meeting” Steve said._ _

__“And I caught you in the elevator before you disappeared for a long time” Natasha finished._ _

__“Out of context that indeed may have seemed weird, but I don’t see why that is a reason to break in. How did you even get in here in the first place?” Tony asked looking at the three of them. “And why is Bruce not here?”_ _

__“Bruce went to his floor” Natasha answered. “But… Fury had also mentioned that you were going through something and then you disappear. Also, the mission failed so we wanted to let you know while also checking up on you without you expecting it...”_ _

__“Which now seems really irrational΅ Steve said, looking down._ _

__Tony looked at them before continuing “I really appreciate it guys-” before he could finish his sentence, Peter whimpered again before he hiccuped and coughed a little._ _

__Tony sighed._ _

__(*) ”He puked on me didn’t he?” Tony asked a bit grumpily, staring straight forward._ _

__Natasha leaned back to look at his back before confirming “Uh yep. He did” Natasha replied smirking a little. The man had a towel over his shoulder, apparently already expecting this, but it did not do much after all._ _

__(*) Tony sighed. “Well, that at least explains the tummy ache.” They all laughed a bit at this.  
Peter indeed seemed to be relieved. He sat on his dad’s lap, staring at him with big eyes.  
Natasha grabbed a tissue from the table and handed it over to the man, who wiped the kid’s face a little. _ _

__Tony stared into Peter’s eyes before he spoke up “Well, I’m going to put my absolute trust in you guys…” Tony started. “Will you please look out for him for a minute so I can change my shirt?” Tony asked._ _

__“Of course” Natasha answered quickly._ _

__“Great” He now seemed to hesitate a bit, before Natasha extended her arms to the boy. Peter didn’t seem to be nervous at all. Shoving his hand in his mouth and sucking on his fingers._ _

__“Please be careful with him and make sure he finishes his milk” Tony said, getting up.  
Natasha placed Peter gently on her lap, bouncing him a bit despite what just happened. _ _

__The man looked every bit like a worried dad, staring at her intently, looking for any sign of discomfort on his baby’s face._ _

__“Go Tony, he’ll be fine for just a few minutes” Steve said smiling._ _

__“Uh… Y-yeah. I- uh, I’ll be right back” The man stumbled out before quickly hurrying out of the room. They all realised that this was the biggest act of trust on the man’s side and they weren’t going to give this chance up._ _

__“Hi there little one” Natasha said softly. Softer than anyone had ever heard. Peter just stared at her with his big brown eyes. He reached out the tiniest of hands to her red hair, luckily sitting just far away enough that he couldn’t pull at it. “Oh aren’t you just adorable!” Natasha said happily._ _

__“Can I hold him?” Steve asked, extending his arms a little. The man looked extremely excited at the chance of holding a baby. Natasha slowly handed him over, Steve gently grabbing hold of him and placing the kid on his legs. ” Hi there little man!” The always so serious man, nearly squealed. Peter giggled at this._ _

__Steve’s eyes absolutely lit up before carefully hugging the boy close. Clint extended a hand towards the kid. Peter grabbed on Steve’s shirt with one hand before removing the hand from his mouth and grabbing onto Clint’s finger. The archer didn’t seemed bothered at all, smiling broadly at the gesture._ _

__Natasha was also smiling with so much happiness in her eyes and Steve looked like he was ready to start crying at any moment._ _

__“Come on guys. Let the babe finish his milk before it gets cold and his dad returns. Hand him over” Natasha smirked, making grabby hands at Peter._ _

__Steve reluctantly handed the kid back to Natasha. Natasha leaned forwards and grabbed the still somewhat warm bottle from the table. She moved Peter so that he was sitting sideways against her chest, his curly little head resting on her collarbone._ _

__This time Peter greedily accepted the bottle, grabbing onto her shirt with one hand, while the other was flailing around the bottle a bit. Steve stood up and grabbed the plushie which he dropped earlier and handed it over to Peter. Peter grabbed it from him, smiling at him around the bottle._ _

__If it wasn’t so dark Natasha could have sworn she saw tears in Steve’s eyes. Unknowing to them though, Tony had arrived back in the room and was staring at the team he pretty much considered family at this point._ _

__After a few seconds of watching, his dad instincts kicked in and he hurried back in the room. Upon noticing, Peter extended both hands to his dad. Tony walked over smiling softly and grabbed Peter under his armpits and sitting down in his previous spot. Natasha handed the nearly empty bottle back to him and Tony continued to feed his baby._ _

__While Natasha had been feeding him, the kid had been staring up at her. He had amazingly smart eyes for such a little guy. Now though, he looked calm and his eyes were already drooping again._ _

__“So how old is he?” Steve asked excitedly._ _

“Just over 14 months” Tony replied _‘14 months and 3 days’ _Tony thought__

____“Who is his mother? Is he Pepper’s? I thought you and Pepper were on a break” Natasha asked._ _ _ _

__

____The man’s smile faltered exceptionally at this. Before she could apologize for her blunt question the man averted his eyes to take the now empty bottle from Peter._ _ _ _

__

____“He is not hers no, and uh... His mom? She uh- She’s not in the picture anymore” Tony said sadly. Staring in the distance for a moment at the apparent memory of the woman._ _ _ _

__

____He shook himself out of the daze and turned Peter around so that his little head rested against his chest. Tony leaned back on the couch so that Peter could settle down comfortably against him. His little legs were at either side of Tony. Red socked feet rested motionlessly at his side. The kid looked pretty much asleep already. Tony had a fierce protectiveness in his eyes and moved Peter a little higher so that he could rest his adorably small ears over his heart._ _ _ _

__

____Turns out there was a heart in there after all. Bigger than they originally thought too._ _ _ _

__

____Tony grabbed the pacifier he still seemed to be holding, back into his baby’s mouth. Smiling softly at his kid._ _ _ _

__

____The team realized they were witnessing a completely new part of Tony. A side that somehow seemed so naturally._ _ _ _

__

____“So uh, what happened?” Steve asked, interrupting the silence._ _ _ _

__

____“Well, when people love each other-” Tony begun.  
“No that’s not-” Steve stammered. They all laughed softly at his quickly reddening face._ _ _ _

__

____“I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow okay?” Tony asked, rocking the precious baby in his arms._ _ _ _

__

____“Thank you for trusting us Tony” Clint said softly._ _ _ _

__

____Tony smiled, eyes still fixed on the baby in his arms._ _ _ _

__

____“Guess I should put this little bean back in his bed huh?” Tony murmured._ _ _ _

__

____They all stared at the pair for a moment, taking in the moment._ _ _ _

__

____“This is his favorite spot you know? Right by Daddy’s heart” Tony said softly. He was looking at Peter more than at the team._ _ _ _

__

____“Sounds like a plan” Steve said._ _ _ _

__

____“We’ll invite Bruce too if that’s alright?” Natasha said_ _ _ _

__

____“Yeah, of course... Okay guys, as much as I like your company, I really need to put this munchkin to bed” Tony whispered._ _ _ _

__

____Peter was deeply asleep. Dark eyelashes resting on his round cheeks. His hands were still holding onto Tony’s shirt._ _ _ _

__

____Everyone stood up and started walking towards the elevator._ _ _ _

__

____“Well I hope you both sleep well Tony” Natasha said, staring at the pair._ _ _ _

__

____“Thank you. I hope you guys sleep well too” Tony replied back._ _ _ _

__

____That night everyone slept peacefully. Their lives were about to get a whole lot more interesting._ _ _ _

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think? Thank you for your patience, kudos and comments!
> 
> Let me know what you think!
> 
> Until next time
> 
> Keep smiling, and let's be grateful for the little things! There is always something to be happy about!


	6. Meeting new friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today is the day where Peter meets the other Avengers? How will the team react? Will everything go alright?
> 
> _Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:_
> 
> _“Yeah, of course... Okay guys, as much as I like your company, I really need to put this munchkin to bed” Tony whispered._
> 
> _Peter was deeply asleep. Dark eyelashes resting on his round cheeks. His hands were still holding onto Tony’s shirt._
> 
> _Everyone stood up and started walking towards the elevator._
> 
> _“Well I hope you both sleep well Tony” Natasha said, staring at the pair._
> 
> _“Thank you. I hope you guys sleep well too” Tony replied back._
> 
> _That night everyone slept peacefully. Their lives were about to get a whole lot more interesting. ___

The next morning Tony woke up with the sun shining on his face…

Before an absolute horrible smell met his nose. After having been so upset the night before Tony had let Peter sleep in his room for the night. He had his own room on the floor, but in cases like this he liked to sleep with his kid close to him.

He groaned a little before getting out of bed. He curled his toes in the fluffy carpet, which Peter absolutely loved to pieces, before walking over to the quite literal _creator _of the horrid smell.__

__It was a little early for him to be up, but oh well. Early day it is._ _

__“Jeez buddy. You do not hold back for your old man do you?” Tony said, looking fondly over into the crib.__

____Peter just giggled a bit in response. “Hmm… Dada” he said while waving his hands around._ _ _ _

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__It had only been a few weeks since Peter had started calling him ‘Dada’, but it took his breath away everytime he did._ _

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__“Bambino… Did you leave a nasty surprise for Dada this morning?” Tony asked smiling down at the adorable boy, hair wild and eyes filled with excitement__

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____“Uh oh” The boy replied, gleaming_ _ _ _

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__“Yes, uh oh” Tony laughed._ _

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__He reached down and picked the kid up. Peter had spit out the pacifier before greeting his Dad, something that always made him laugh since the kid sometimes launched the thing._ _

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__He kissed Peter on his temple and took him to the bathroom to change and clean him up.  
The little man was going to meet the Avengers today, so he was going to dress him the absolute best. _ _

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__“Oh, moo moo!” Peter called out, extending a hand towards his crib. Of course the giraffe plushie, ironically named ‘moo moo’ had to come along on today’s adventure._ _

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__Tony walked back to the crib, grabbing the plushie and the same pacifier from a few days ago._ _

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__He quickly changed the kid into a new diaper and some comfortable clothes and went over to the kitchen, ready to start their day. He gave Peter his favourite banana breakfast before making a dark coffee for himself._ _

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__The sun was slowly rising, casting a soft glow over the quiet penthouse. Well mostly quiet, apart from Peter’s constant babbling. Ever since the boy had found out he had vocal chords he couldn’t seem stop talking. They weren’t words yet, but he was getting kind of close sometimes. Right now he mostly was able to express how he was feeling but did always have something to say. Peter was born prematurely and therefore behind on a few things, but at the same time quite developed in other areas. He truly had his father’s genius. Probably his mother's too…_ _

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__Eating breakfast was quite the messy affair, so perhaps it was good to be up a little earlier after all. That way he could at least prepare himself and Peter for the coming day._ _

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__“Buh buh buh” Peter babbled as he reached out a dirty hand towards his dad, always eager to share his food._ _

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__“Wow, really some groundbreaking theories there, buddy” Tony replied, walking over with a bowl of cereal. “No buddy, I got my own yummy food” Peter looked confused at being rejected. Tilting his head like a puppy.__

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____“Buh bah?” he said while reaching out again._ _ _ _

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__“No eat your own food, bambino” Tony said, moving the banana covered hand towards the kid’s mouth. Peter seemed to be fine with it and munched on his own fingers. Luckiliy it appeared Peter had dealt with the worst of the flu so hopefully there wouldn’t be any problems today. Or ever…_ _

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__They enjoyed their peaceful morning together before Tony had to start packing some things. Peter had never been in other parts of the tower so he had to bring some supplies with him._ _

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__Peter’s whole life had been a secret so far. Only those close to him knew of his existence… And now? Now the Avengers knew too. They had been growing a lot more closer recently and Tony had realised after a fight with Pepper that it was perhaps time to start introducing Peter to others and one day maybe even the rest of the world._ _

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__The little man already had quite some separation anxiety, but so did his dad. Keeping Peter a secret had been a deliberate choice. A choice based on the circumstances._ _

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__Tony got snapped out of his thoughts by Peter getting frustrated at being stuck in his highchair. Peter truly was one of the reasons for him to get out of bed. Not too long ago, even the only reason…_ _

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__As if sensing his dad’s dwindling mood, Peter started blowing raspberries against his hands. It was something that always made him giggle and because of that his dad always joined soon after._ _

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__Peter was only 14 months old, but was already an amazing person. He grabbed Peter out of his highchair and hugged him close for a moment. The kid’s life had been all kinds of crazy so far and now a bunch of superheroes were going to be added into the mix._ _

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__He could only hope that he had made the right decision by trusting them…_ _

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__JARVIS had informed him that the rest of the team had informed Bruce and that they were ready to meet them in the common room. Apparently Peter and him weren’t the only ones up early._ _

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__Tony was just packing a bag for the rest of the day when JARVIS informed him that Rhodey was calling. Rhodey was the person who had always stood by his side and basically helped raise Peter when he wasn’t able to himself. The colonel always made sure to call whenever he could when he was away for the time being. Checking in on his chosen family._ _

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__It probably also had to do with the fact that Peter was the cutest kid to ever exist, but that was beside the point._ _

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__“Hey Tones!” His warm voice spoke from the speakers. Peter also immediately perked up at the voice. He was in fact playing with one of the toy planes the man had got him for his birthday._ _

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__“Hey Honeybear” Tony replied a bit distracted. It stayed silent on the other side for a moment._ _

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__“Oh god. I know that voice, what’s up? How is my nephew doing?”_ _

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__“Oh you know… Peter is doing great! I think he finally beat that flu.” Tony remarked. Peter was looking so much better._ _

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__“That’s great Tones, but you are avoiding my question. Is everything alright?” The man asked kindly._ _

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__Tony sighed before continuing. “The team found out about Peter” He heard Rhodey take a sharp breath in on the other side._ _

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__“Okay. Did not expect that. How are you handling that? Do I need to come over?” Rhodey asked concerned. He knew him well enough by now to not sound nervous and get to the point. Years of knowing the man had taught him some important lessons._ _

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__“I think if it wasn't for the fact that I was absolutely exhausted, I might have handled it different but… I think I’m doing okay so far I guess? I mean… Thinking about it makes me nervous and all but-”_ _

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__Before he could continue Rhodey interrupted, sensing his best friend’s panic._ _

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__“You’ll be fine Tony. I’m proud of you. So, can I speak to my favorite nephew?”_ _

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__“He is your only nephew” The man laughed. He walked over to Peter who was once again, completely absorbed in playing with his toys.  
“Wanna say hello to Uncle Rhodey?” Tony asked, crouching down next to Peter._ _

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__Although Peter wasn’t able to pronounce many words,including names, he did recognize most people around him._ _

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___‘Uncle Rhodey’ _might actually be the kid’s favorite person, after his dad of course.__ _ _

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____Little eyes suddenly turned big and curious, followed up by excited babbling._ _ _ _

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____“Yeah! Your uncle!” Tony said happily “He’s listening, say hi Rhodes!”_ _ _ _

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____“Hey there little man!” Rhodey spoke up. You could really hear the smile in his voice.  
Peter squealed at hearing his uncle, bouncing up and down on his diapered bum at the sound of the man’s voice. _ _ _ _

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____“Are you feeling better bud? It was no fun being sick huh?” Rhodey stated.  
Peter babbled in response. _ _ _ _

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____They continued to talk a bit while Tony finished packing. Tony heard another voice over the phone calling for his best friend._ _ _ _

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____“Oh I gotta go Tones. Let me know how it went and don’t worry everything will be fine” The man rushed out._ _ _ _

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____“Will do Rhodes. You should come visit soon” Tony replied. He picked Peter up and rested him on his hip while also grabbing ‘the Peter bag’. Still refusing to call it a diaper bag…_ _ _ _

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____“I will, I promise. Bye Tony and good luck. Bye-bye Peter!”_ _ _ _

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____“Bye Rhodes!” Tony answered Peter happily waving his bye-bye’s to the man even though he couldn’t see it._ _ _ _

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____“Call disconnected” The voice of JARVIS spoke up from the ceiling._ _ _ _

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____Tony breathed in a deep breath before making his way over to the elevator. His heart was slowly starting to raise and he unconsciously tightened his hold on Peter._ _ _ _

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____The elevator arrived quickly and the man got in before he could start over-thinking it.  
The pressure from going down, made Peter whine in protest and giving the man a much needed distraction. _ _ _ _

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____Peter wasn’t afraid of meeting new people. He should be fine._ _ _ _

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____Shushing the boy and bouncing him up and down, Tony could slowly feel his nerves calming down. He handed the boy his pacifier, which he gladly accepted, before he dropped his head on his dad’s shoulder._ _ _ _

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____The elevator dinged, announcing their arrival._ _ _ _

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_____Now or never _Tony thought.__ _ _ _ _

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______He stepped out of the elevator with fake confidence, ready to step into the room and take on the next challenge._ _ _ _ _ _

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______Upon entering, Steve immediately spun around. Exclaiming a very happy, “Oh hi!” at the pair, posture melting at the sight of the boy. He went beet red right after._ _ _ _ _ _

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______The genuine and funny reaction luckily broke the tension in the room, making everyone feel at ease._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“Oh my god, you really weren’t kidding…” Bruce muttered in the background, Natasha smirking at him._ _ _ _ _ _

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______Tony walked over to the living room area with Peter still on his hip. He looked a bit nervous but curious at the same time. It probably wouldn’t take long for the boy to recognize them from last night._ _ _ _ _ _

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______He placed Peter on the soft and fluffy carpet, the team gathering around quickly._ _ _ _ _ _

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______“So-” Tony started “Let’s do this properly this time. Everyone, this is Peter. Peter Benjamin Stark”_ _ _ _ _ _

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapterrrr!
> 
> Gosh, I have so many ideas! I do need your opinion though, would you prefer if I keep adding to this stroy or would it be better to turn this into a series? Meaning that I will finish this work, which will be focussed on the team getting to know Peter and the series being cute scenes and one-shots about their lives together. Let me know what you think
> 
>   
> Right now I think I'm leaning towards turning this into a series...
> 
> Kudos and comments are really appreciated! Thank you so much to everyone who made the time to read my work. I try to read trough every comment and every kudo, so know that you are not forgotten! 
> 
> You can also follow me on tumblr where I mostly post unrelated art and photography ( for now at least) but you can also use it to contact me and share your ideas or something.
> 
> Until next time!
> 
> Keep smiling, and let's all remember to breathe!
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts


	7. You've got a friend in me!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers finally get the chance to properly meet Peter for the first time! How will things go?  
>  _Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:_  
>  “Oh my god, you really weren’t kidding…” Bruce muttered in the background, Natasha smirking at him.
> 
> _Tony walked over to the living room area with Peter still on his hip. He looked a bit nervous but curious at the same time. It probably wouldn’t take long for the boy to recognize them from last night._
> 
> _He placed Peter on the soft and fluffy carpet, the team gathering around quickly._
> 
> _“So-” Tony started “Let’s do this properly this time. Everyone, this is Peter. Peter Benjamin Stark” ___

“So-” Tony started “Let’s do this properly this time. Everyone, this is Peter. Peter Benjamin Stark” 

At the mention of his name the boy looked up at his dad “Buh bah!” he replied from behind his pacifier, waving a chubby hand.

The rest of the team completely melted at the young boy in front of them.

“How old did you say he was, Tony?” Bruce asked curiously

“Just over 14 months” Tony replied proudly.

“He’s- He’s small” Bruce stated hesitantly

Tony’s smile only faltered a little bit before he straightened up again. The kid was healthy, he reminded himself. “He was born a month early, so he is indeed on the small side” Tony said, sitting on the couch next to where Peter was sitting.

“Bababa” Peter said, waving at his dad.

“Hey bud” Tony said smiling. He reached down and took the binky from Peter, the kid frowning a little at the apparent _theft _before focussing on the fluffy carpet again. Anything soft and fluffy was mesmerizing to the kid. He raked his fingers through it and pulled at it roughly, giggling loudly at the feeling.__

__The others sat down on the couch and chairs in the room as well, looking at the toddler as if he was going to explode the second they averted their eyes from the boy._ _

__“Relax guys! I mean, I would say he doesn’t bite, but he does so there’s that. He isn’t a time bomb though” Tony remarked._ _

__“Can I?” Steve asked, sliding off the couch a little._ _

__Tony looked at him and replied “Sure go ahead. Look buddy, who’s that? “ Tony said, gesturing from Peter to Steve._ _

__The kid turned around, curls flying around a bit and looked at the large man sitting on the floor in front of the couch. Who knew that the Captain had a soft spot for children?_ _

__Tony reached for the bag he brought and took out Peter’s toy planes. The munchkin immediately reached a hand towards it._ _

__“Vrrrm” Peter said happily, mimicking the sound of a plane. He followed the plane while still reaching for it, looking a bit shocked and maybe offended when Tony handed it over to the strange man._ _

__“He has a Captain America shirt, you know. I think it’s the bright colors that attracted him” Tony said._ _

__Steve smiled at the fact, trying to get Peter’s attention with the toy plane. Said kid looked a bit hesitant, suddenly turning shy. He glanced a look towards Tony, unsure of what to do. To him it must look like his dad randomly gave one of his favorite toys to some stranger. Peter stuck out a hand, grabbing onto his dad’s pant leg, whining a little bit._ _

__The Captain looked saddened at the boy’s sudden shyness. “Look here buddy! Look what I got, it’s your plane” the man said, moving the plane around in the air._ _

__Peter glanced at his dad again, only moving towards the Captain at the nod from his dad. Peter crawled over babbling, before he sat down right in front of Steve._ _

__He started reaching for the plane again, giggling when Steve moved the plane by his chubby face._ _

__“Hi there little dude!” Steve squeaked, causing the boy to smile again. Peter stuck his hand in his mouth, paying close attention to what the man was doing._ _

Steve continued to fly the plane around, making plane noises as well.

__“Did you guys have breakfast already?” Clint asked, getting up and already moving towards the kitchen_ _

__“Yeah I got woken up early by Mr. Nasty pants” Tony laughed along with the others.  
Peter joining them after a few seconds, having no idea that the joke was about him in the first place. _ _

__“Tony why don’t you tell us more about the little guy” Natasha spoke up, eyes fixed on Peter.  
Peter was slowly warming up to Steve, now grabbing onto the man’s fingers.  
Steve started to shake his little hands “Hi! I’m Steve” Peter was smiling with a bright smile ath the soldier, happy to be making new friends. _ _

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__“He doesn’t really talk yet, so don't get your hopes up” Tony smiled. “But anyways, uhm, where should I start...” Tony begun. “As you probably already guessed his favorite toys are the giraffe plushie and the plane he got from Rhodey. The giraffe thing is called _‘moo moo’ _for reasons I do not understand” he laughed.___ _

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____“Who’s his mom?” Bruce asked. The others tensed a bit at the question, Tony looking a bit sad again as well._ _ _ _

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____“Not in the picture anymore” he said curtly. The message was clear to all that it was a sensitive topic. They realized that they should just leave it for now as they had already broken the man’s privacy the night before._ _ _ _

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____“But what else do you guys want to know about the kid? His favorite animal, favorite snack?” Tony asked, breaking the tense silence._ _ _ _

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____“How does Fury know about Peter? And how did he end up with the plushie?” Natasha asked, leaning back in her chair._ _ _ _

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____Tony seemed to be a bit lost in thought before continuing. “Mr. Pirate came to me to talk about the Avenger initiative as you probably know” Tony said raising an eyebrow at Natasha.  
“After that… Around 2010 maybe, I was in a bit of a tough place. The arc reactor was causing some major health issues, making me believe I was going to die blah blah, then Pepper and I broke up” He trailed off_ _ _ _

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____Everyone looked a bit uncomfortable at the sudden change of topic. Peter obviously not understanding the situation tried to get Steve’s attention again. He squealed loudly so that Steve would look at him. The soldier extended his hand, the toddler grabbing onto his fingers._ _ _ _

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The little guy seemed to focus really hard and started squeezing the large hand, Tony already expecting what was about to happen but still surprised.

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Peter made a soft grunting noise before carefully getting up on his chubby legs. Steve was absolutely shocked, almost bouncing up and down out of excitement, while chanting “oh my god, oh my god”

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____Peter stood on wobbly legs, chatting loudly. Standing up with some assistance was one of his new skills so it was pretty special he chose Steve to help him._ _ _ _

The little guy was so proud of himself, while Steve was completely speachless.

____“Anyway, Pepper and I broke up and not long after that I met Pete’s mom. She uh-... Nevermind. The thing is to answer your question, Fury stayed in contact with me and found out about Peter before he was even born. He still wanted me to be an Avenger though, but also made me a bigger part of it all. A few days after New York he contacted me to help start this merry band. I took Peter with me to his office and the kid brought his plushie. He must have left it on the ground somewhere, because when we got home, little moo moo was nowhere to be found. I swear those were the longest 3 days of my life. He refused to go to sleep. The only times that he did sleep was if I was holding him. So yeah I was pretty relieved the man had found it. I noticed your stares, but I just chose to ignore them” Tony smirked._ _ _ _

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____“Why didn’t I know about him then?” Natasha followed up._ _ _ _

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____“Because I didn’t want you to” Tony said a bit curtly._ _ _ _

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____If she wasn’t a trained spy she might have been offended by the comment, but she could easily see that there was more to it. Something deeper that the man wasn’t willing to share just yet._ _ _ _

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____Cutting the eye contact, Tony averted his eyes back to Peter, who was crouching a little and looking a bit awkward. “Well I guess that’s my cue” he said. “Little man probably needs a change, I’ll be right back. If Cap can let go of him that is” Tony laughed. Part of him glad for the distraction._ _ _ _

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____Steve smiled awkwardly and let Tony grab Peter. Tony made quick work of getting Peter changed so that he could get back as soon as possible. So far things had been going great and Peter’s presence seemed to ease all the tension. It made talking to each other a lot easier._ _ _ _

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____Hurrying back in the room a few moments later he noticed that Steve was still smiling like a mad man.  
Clint had also added some snacks to the table, which the others were gladly accepting._ _ _ _

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____A loud “oooh” from Peter at the colorful sight made by various sorts of fruit announced their arrival, making everyone laugh as well._ _ _ _

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____He placed Peter next to him on the couch only for him to be picked up by an eager Natasha. She raised a challenging eyebrow to him as if asking what he was going to do about it and sat down on the couch, now with Peter sitting on her lap._ _ _ _

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____Once again he immediately stretched out a hand towards her bright hair, curious as ever and seemingly very calm in her presence as well. To most men, the woman was someone to be either feared or respected, but to Peter she was just a new friend. A friend with interesting hair._ _ _ _

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____“Is he allowed to have this?” She asked pointing to the fruits and other snacks_ _ _ _

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____“Only the soft foods, I don’t want to upset his stomach. He likes banana a lot”_ _ _ _

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____Natasha leaned forward and grabbed some fruit for the both of them. Peter greedily accepting the piece of fruit. Eliciting an excited "oooh" from Peter yet again_ _ _ _

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____“How about all the times you disappeared?” Clint spoke up suddenly._ _ _ _

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____“Well, the little guy has had a bit of a rough start.” Tony said remorseful. “Maybe a few days after you all moved in he got sick and couldn’t really keep anything down. Hence I hurried downstairs and bumped into Mr. Spangles here when he was moving boxes, because I was on my way to the pharmacy to get him some meds for his stomach, for example. The other times were likely close to it. He gets sick often, but at his age he also gets quite some separation anxiety. Then there are the times where he is teething or just throwing a temper tantrum.”_ _ _ _

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____“Makes sense” Clint shrugged._ _ _ _

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____“I absolutely love and adore the little man, but he is quite the handful sometimes. Although... I have come to realise that there really isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.” Tony said smiling at the boy._ _ _ _

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____The boy looked up and smiled happily at the man. He waved a little hand. "Dada!" he said smiling. His happy spirit brightened the room, without even having to try.  
Peter was able to make everyone around him feel at ease. Little kids like him made it worth it to fight the battles they fought. _ _ _ _

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____Tony basked in the peaceful moment. He was slowly starting to realise that introducing the team to Peter, perhaps wasn’t so bad afterall._ _ _ _

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AnOtHeR OnE! 
> 
> Here you have it, chapter 7! Thank you all for reading and commenting, it truly makes everything so much more worth it! <3  
> I am moving things slow in the story, because I don't want this work to come off as hurried. Personally I really like stories with a bit more background, so that's what I'm trying to do as well :P
> 
> Know that this isn't finished yet so stay tuned for more!
> 
> Stay happy and keep smiling!
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts


	8. The battle of New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter the Avengers learn much more about Tony's point of view during and after the battle of New York. 
> 
> _Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:_  
>  The boy looked up and smiled happily at the man. His happy spirit brightened the room, without even having to try.  
> Peter was able to make everyone around him feel at ease. Little kids like him made it worth it to fight the battles they fought. 
> 
> _Tony was slowly starting to realise that introducing the team to Peter, perhaps wasn’t so bad afterall. ___

Tony and Peter stayed on the common room floor for the rest of the day.

Peter seemed to be thoroughly enjoying making new friends with the Avengers.  
He had shown them all his favorite toys, his happy babbling filling up the silence. 

Right now he was standing on the couch, holding onto Tony’s shoulder for support and swinging a toy car around. 

Tony had a protective arm around his smaller body, making sure he wouldn’t topple off the couch, since the little guy had a tendency to randomly topple over.

Toddlers really were just small drunk adults… 

They were sharing their old mission stories, laughing at some of the ridiculousness they got up to. 

… 

A few hours of joyful playing later it was around the time for Peter’s nap, also made clear by the little kid’s droopy eyes and sluggish movements.  
He reached a small hand out towards his dad, from where he was sitting on the couch. Tony handed him his binky, before hugging the boy suckling on his binky, closer. 

Tony grabbed the soft baby blue blanket from the back of the couch and picked Peter up. He leaned back on the couch while the other's conversations continued, pulling Peter close to his chest again. He tugged the soft blanket around the kid, pressing a gentle kiss on his soft curls.

Soft dark eyelashes tickled the round cheeks, eyes slowly fluttering shut. Peter tugged moo moo under his chin, his other hand closing in a fist around Tony’s shirt. The little guy was fighting sleep and looking around at the Avengers despite sleep tugging at him. The binky was bobbing up and down, while his breathing slowly got deeper and his body relaxed. 

Tony started rocking Peter in his arms slowly, helping the kid fall asleep similar to the night before. It wasn’t long before the kid was asleep, safely tucked away in his dad’s arm. Little sniffling sounds meeting everyone's ears. 

JARVIS automatically lowered the lights a bit. No one seemed bothered by the kid sleeping in the room. 

“I didn’t bring a travel crib with me and I don’t want to wake him up right now, so I’ll just hold him for the time being, if that's alright. His morning naps usually don’t take long anyway, and getting him to sleep in the first place is usually a problem, so I’m just glad he is sleeping in the first place.” Tony said softly. 

__“Don’t worry about it man” Clint replied smiling softly, almost knowingly. The so far exciting day had absolutely exhausted the boy._ _

__“So Tony-” Natasha started, when she was sure the kid was asleep. “Where was he during the attack on New York? I mean none of us had any clue you had a kid until yesterday” She asked reluctantly._ _

__Tony stared off in the distant at her question. The others leaned forward in anticipation._ _

__“Peter he-” Tony bit his lip nervously. He hugged Peter a bit closer. New York was a sensitive topic for the man. Now though even more understandable since the seemingly cold man had been a loving father all along._ _

“Peter and I have both been living at the tower since he was born… Once I realized a threat was looming I called my friend Rhodey to help start making plans for any type of situation that might arise. Rhodey had been there for me since college and stood by my side all these years. I knew that I lived, _live _a dangerous life and couldn’t just hide with Peter when there were so many people counting on me. Even though I wanted nothing more than to run away with my baby and ignore the state of the world…” Tony explained gloomily.__

____Everyone listened on patiently. Giving the man all the room he needed to tell his part of the story._ _ _ _

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____“Rhodes, Pepper and I, we… We thought of basically any possible outcome. We of course only had limited information at the time so we had no idea what was going to happen. We even had a foster family ready… A foster family ready for when things really turned south” Tony continued, his voice trailing off in hurt. His voice cracked a bit at the word ‘foster family’ and what could have been a reality._ _ _ _

__

____They also didn’t miss the fact that he cuddled Peter closer, moving him higher on his chest so that he could rest his cheek on the kids head, while still resting close to his heart._ _ _ _

__

____“Very early on I realised that in order to protect him I couldn’t be around much, so at first Peter stayed at the tower's penthouse with Rhodey and his mother. It was very hard at first, but the dangers we were facing kept my mind occupied. Mostly._ _ _ _

____Sometimes the only contact we had was through video calls. Peter being as young as he is, didn’t understand why he couldn’t go to me to hug me and would always end upcrying...”_ _ _ _

__

____“That must have been very hard” Bruce commented understandingly._ _ _ _

__

____“It was.”_ _ _ _

__

____“What happened then? “ Natasha asked._ _ _ _

__

____“When things started getting bigger, Peter stayed with Rhodey at his place. I tried to visit my baby as often as I could, but it wasn’t great. I missed his first word for example.” Tony said sadly, looking up at the room. “Rhodey recorded it and it wasn’t really a word to begin with, but I still missed it”_ _ _ _

__

____“What was it?” Steve asked curiously._ _ _ _

__

____“Moo moo” Tony laughed. “Like I said not really a word but… Anyway, Peter was safe and that was the only thing that mattered. Eventually I had Peter, Rhodey and Pepper stay at safe houses outside of the city ...”_ _ _ _

____“Why did you decide to carry the missile into the wormhole though? I mean you had a kid waiting for you and everything…” Clint asked with a sad frown._ _ _ _

____Tony shuddered a bit at the memory, taking a moment to collect himself.  
Peter whined a bit in his sleep, perhaps sensing the mood in the room. Tony’s attention immediately snapped to his son, shushing him and stroking a hand through the soft brown curls. His hand covered most of the kid’s head and making the little one relax under his touch._ _ _ _

__

____“I realized that this battle wasn’t going to end if I didn’t make the sacrifice. In that moment I think I just sort of realized that I had the power to end it right there, so I did. I wanted nothing more than for Peter to grow up in a safer world. He was young enough that he would have probably forgotten about me, would things have gone wrong and would be able to move on eventually. Coming out of this alive was one of the biggest and most special gifts I have ever received” Tony said wisely._ _ _ _

__

____“Wow” Bruce murmured._ _ _ _

__

____“What happened after the battle?” Natasha asked._ _ _ _

__

____“After the battle, one of the very first things I did was go to see Peter. When I walked through the door, his face absolutely lit up. He wasn’t even scared of any of the bruises or cuts on my face. I had feared beforehand that he might have forgotten me, but he certainly didn’t.  
That was also the first time he called me dad” Tony said with a gaze far beyond this room. He was smiling too. “I think that was the biggest ‘thank you’ I could have gotten.” He finished._ _ _ _

____“Thank you for sharing this Tony” Steve said._ _ _ _

__

____Tony just nodded._ _ _ _

__

____“How has life been with him after the battle?” Natasha asked._ _ _ _

__

“I decided to spend more time with him. Pepper is still the CEO of Stark Industries so I had a lot more time on my hands. After the whole battle.. _Thing… _We had our ups and downs. His separation anxiety got worse, he got sick a lot of times, but we also had our good moments. We celebrated his first birthday and he decided to surprise me one morning with standing up on his little legs in his crib to greet me.” Tony smiled. “I’ve also seen a lot more of his milestones, and got to see his little personality grow. Little man is as stubborn as his dad, but has a heart of gold. He loves talking. Seriously he doesn’t stop. It’s just… It’s awesome.” The man smiled.__

__

____

______“I’m happy to hear that, Stark” Natasha smiled._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______“Thank you Natalie” Tony smirked at their inside joke._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______The tense and gloomy atmosphere luckily cleared pretty fast and it wasn’t long before Peter started to wake up._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______“Oh boy, get ready for a lot more energy. Little man has had his nap” Tony laughed._ _ _ _ _ _

____

______“Are you staying for lunch?” Bruce asked._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______“Of course, if you guys don’t mind. I just need to get his highchair from the penthouse”_ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______“I’ll help!” Steve spoke up, jumping up from his chair._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______Around twenty minutes later everyone was sat around the table eating lunch. They were passing around different foods, testing out what Peter liked and didn’t like._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______Turns out that he doesn’t like anything that's even a bit sour. Like at all._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______The absolutely disgusted and horrified face he got after feeding him a piece of a sour apple was one of the most hilarious things he had ever seen._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______The kid had taken a big bite, chewing slowly before stopping abruptly, looking at his dad with a shocked face, before very graciously spitting it right back out in his hand._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______“No, no!” Peter argued, shaking his head and waving his fist around, making everyone burst out in laughter._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______They continued their lunch, feeling much more at ease. It felt like family._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

______In that moment everyone was able to forget about what had happened these past few months and simply enjoyed being in 'the now'. Surely there was more to come, but for now everything was peaceful._ _ _ _ _ _

____

__

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yaaay!
> 
> As you can probably tell I do not have an uploading schedule. Personally I like to write and post when it feels right and when I'm feeling inspired. (Please note that English also isn't actually my first language, so there will porbably be mistakes here and there, but feel free to point them out to me)
> 
> This story still has a little bit to go and after that I do think I will wirte a series in the same universe. (AU)  
> If you have any ideas for what you would like to see, either in the series or this story just let me know!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, make sure to check out my other 3 works as well!  
> Every kudo, comment, bookmark is appreciated so much! Thank you for all the support! <3
> 
> Keep smiling and let's be hopeful for tomorrow and thankful for today.
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts


	9. We are a team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fury tells Tony something he wasn't quite ready for... How will the other Avengers react? 
> 
> _Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:  
>  They continued their lunch, feeling much more at ease. It felt like family.  
> In that moment everyone was able to forget about what had happened these past few months and simply enjoyed being in 'the now'. Surely there was more to come, but for now everything was peaceful. ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one! As you can see this work is almost finished  
> But don't worry! I still have many more ideas!

After lunch they all sat down in the common room again. Peter was currently playing peekaboo with Steve from behind the couch. Peter would hide behind the couch and peek out with a cheeky smile and Steve would say peekaboo in a voice that sounded _nothing _like the Captain that they knew, causing Peter to burst out in giggles every time.__

__“I gotta ask though” Tony started, making the other conversations halt “what happened during the mission? You guys never told me about it and Fury hasn’t called yet”_ _

__“We wanted to inform you that it failed.” Natasha replied._ _

__“And...?”_ _

__“Well-” Steve said, getting up from the floor and picking a hyperactive Peter up. “We indeed wanted to talk to you about the mission, but we got kind of distracted. The uh…-” It was admirable how the old man was able to focus while Peter was trying to reach for his nose…  
“The mission failed obviously, we couldn’t really find anything important, but we all had a feeling there was more to this base, but that we couldn’t get to it without the proper technology”_ _

__“What do you know about technology, grandpa?” Tony laughed._ _

__“So what do you guys suggest I do though? I can’t do much from here”_ _

__“I guess it would be good if you would come along next time.” Clint said._ _

__“Next time?”_ _

__“Well yeah. We were hoping you would come along n-” Natasha begun, only to be interrupted by Tony._ _

__“Nope. No way.”_ _

__“Tony-” Steve tried to argue_ _

__“Steve I have a kid at home. I can’t just risk my life again”_ _

__“Isn’t that what a team is for though? To protect one other” Natasha reasoned._ _

__“Look man, I understand. I really do, but you said it yourself we can’t just decide to not go on these missions. If you want to step out of the initiative, be my guest, but making that choice has its consequences” Clint spoke up. There was truth in his eyes, something deeper._ _

__Tony let out a deep sigh. “Well, let me at least think about it.”_ _

__“That’s alright” Bruce spoke up._ _

__Everyone looked at one another, lots on their mind but not quite sure how to handle the situation._ _

__A “uh oh” from Peter caught the attention of everyone in the room, breaking the silence. Peter was looking at his dad guiltily from where he was standing on Steve’s knees. Steve scrunched up his face… Ah._ _

__“Peter did you do a stinky?” Tony asked, having a hard time to contain his amusement. “Or is grandpa’s old age finally catching up to him?”_ _

__The team laughed at his teasing, Steve going bright red._ _

__“Watch it Rogers, your head might explode like that” Clint laughed._ _

__Tony stood up and picked Peter up from Steve’s lap. “Up you go” he said as he placed Peter on his hip. “I’ll be right back”. The man grabbed the backpack from the ground and went over to the bathroom, closing the door behind him._ _

__Clint and Natasha were sharing a knowing look with each other. Sharing a quiet conversation no one but them would understand._ _

__“I really do believe it would be beneficial for Tony to come along on the next mission” Steve said, still looking at the closed door._ _

__You could hear Tony’s voice muffled through the door, talking to Peter while the little guy laughed loudly at his dad._ _

__“I do too” Bruce spoke up. “I think we just need to let Tony know that he can trust us. Even on these type of missions. Before New York he prepared himself and Peter for a situation where in which he might die. I believe it’s important for him now to know that we have his back, even on smaller missions like this.” Bruce said wisely._ _

__“But would that convince him to go with us though?” Clint argued._ _

__“All he wants is for Peter to be safe. I think if we explain to him that getting intel from this base can truly help make the world a safer place, he would want to come along. Or at least consider it” Natasha said._ _

__Before any of them could agree, the door to the bathroom opened and Tony stepped out. He looked at the group, already sensing what the conversation was about when he stepped out for a second, but decided not to get into it further._ _

__He placed Peter on the ground, handing him a colorful block with all sorts of buttons and other things to play with. Peter happily accepted the toy with a loud “Oooh” and started messing around with the toy._ _

__“He absolutely loves playing around with buttons and stuff. It’s good the penthouse is mostly run by JARVIS or I’m sure he would already have set something on fire or something. You can baby proof all you want, this munchkin is smart” Tony smiled._ _

__“Kids can be very creative in finding trouble” Clint replied._ _

__Tony raised a questioning eyebrow but decided not to further ask anything._ _

__“It’s not long before he has to take another nap though, but I think I will get him upstairs for that one. This is all very exciting for him, but he also needs time to process everything”_ _

__“Sure no problem” Bruce said._ _

__They continued their conversations, leaving the whole HYDRA situation on the back burner for the time being._ _

__Twenty minutes later or so, Peter was visibly starting to get sluggish and a bit grumpy, and Tony started to pack the bag he brought with him._ _

__“I really enjoyed this guys” He smiled, slinging the backpack over his shoulder. “And I’m sure the little man here did as well” He said, crouching down and picking a nearly asleep Peter up._ _

__“Feel free to come visit anytime. It’s common a room after all” Clint said._ _

__“Right. Well feel free to also visit the penthouse. Just inform JARVIS and he will let you in”_ _

_____________ _

__Later that day after Tony had put Peter to bed, Tony thought about their crazy day._ _

__Of course the whole HYDRA thing was on his mind as well… He couldn’t just leave his team, but going out there and possibly risking his life wasn’t a great option either._ _

__He had a suit of armor, he had his brains and a team to fall back on, but he now also had a higher purpose. A tiny human, _his _little kid, was counting on him coming home.___ _

____He walked over to the nursery, opening the door softly. Peter was sleeping peacefully in his crib. The mobile above his bed, twirling in small circles._ _ _ _

____He crouched down a little and caressed a hand over the soft skin of his face. He dedicated his life to this little being. He had promised himself and Peter to always protect him._ _ _ _

____But he also knew deep down that helping the others with getting more information about HYDRA could change the world for the better._ _ _ _

____He had a difficult decision to make.  
__________ _ _ _

____ _ _

____The next week Fury called for them again. Luckily Rhodey was staying over so Tony was able to leave even on short notice._ _ _ _

____He had his suspicions about the next meeting and a heavy feeling settled in his stomach._ _ _ _

____Entering the room he noticed that everyone else was already there…_ _ _ _

_____Oh dear. ____ _ _ _

______“Good afternoon Stark” Fury said from the window._ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony sat down in a chair furthest away from the team. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what was about to happen next._ _ _ _ _ _

______“So Stark”- Fury begun. “I think you know why I have called you here”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What is this? Is this some type of interrogation?” Tony said indignant._ _ _ _ _ _

______The team remained silent._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Calm down Stark. I have defended you multiple times, the only thing I ask from you now is to listen. I understand that you have a child to protect and that New York was a huge deal for you. Especially you. No one here truly knows what happened up there or what carrying a missile into space can do to a man, but I need you to understand that in order to protect the earth form earth’s horrors, we need our heroes. HYDRA is one of those horrors.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Fury, look-” Tony tried to argue, only to be interrupted_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No you listen to me. I understand Stark. We all do. You have a kid, you have more reasons to live than just being a superhero. But we need you. They need you. This is a team. A team that has each other’s backs, that includes you. One of our agents got hold of very important information about this base and confirmed that there is more to it. The only way we can get more information that could help us stop HYDRA is by exploring exactly what was so important.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Why don’t you ask that agent then?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“ The agent was only able to confirm about the importance of that base but couldn’t tell us anything more than that. We have reason to believe that they might be getting watched as well. And before you start getting suspicious, this agent is one of our most trusted agents. The only reason they were able to confirm it was because they heard about this base on accident years ago while trying to undermine morse codes”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony let out a heavy sigh and dared a look at the others in the room. They were looking at him with a mixture of guilt and importance._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m sorry Stark, but you are leaving tonight.” Fury said_ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony stared at the man betrayed. His hands started to shake and his breathing sped up a little._ _ _ _ _ _

______The others were looking at him for any type of reaction. At this point they weren’t even sure how he would react._ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony stood up abruptly, his chair flying backwards. He stood at the table, lips pressed together tightly and eyes fueled with so many emotions. He breathed heavily for a moment, eyes suddenly shining before stepping out of the room and slamming the door shut.  
___________ _ _ _ _ _

______ _ _ _ _

______Tony walked into the elevator, ears ringing and body fueled with rage.  
A part of him knew the man was right, but the other part was angry and shocked._ _ _ _ _ _

______He returned to the penthouse, his ears ringing and hands shaking._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Hey Tone-, wow okay what is going on?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony just kind of stood there, opening and closing his mouth but not being able to say anything._ _ _ _ _ _

______Rhodey stared into his eyes before realisation dawned on him. Without saying anything he brought his best friend closer and hugged him to his chest. He noticed a few tears fell, but he wasn’t going to say anything._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Where’s uh…. W-Where’s Peter?” Tony asked, stepping back from the hug._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I just put him down for a nap. Which I’m assuming is perfect timing” Rhodey said concerned, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “He’s making you go, isn’t he?” He asked next._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah” Tony replied in a small and broken voice._ _ _ _ _ _

______Rhodey just hugged him again._ _ _ _ _ _

______________ _ _ _ _ _

______That night, a few hours or so before leaving Tony was giving Peter a bath with a heavy feeling in his chest._ _ _ _ _ _

______Peter was oblivious to the situation. He just splashed his hands in the water, laughing loudly without a care in the world._ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony smiled at him._ _ _ _ _ _

______The little man had changed his life for the better and now he was just going to risk it again._ _ _ _ _ _

______He took his time washing his baby’s hair and playing with the bath toys.  
Peter was looking at him with so much love and admiration in his eyes. Like he had hung all the stars in the sky just for him. _ _ _ _ _ _

______After bath time he held Peter close again, rocking him to sleep and humming an old lullaby. Even when Peter had long fallen asleep he stayed. He eventually placed Peter in his crib and just sat next to the crib for a while._ _ _ _ _ _

______The door opened softly and Rhodey walked in. He looked at his friend sadly before placing a supporting hand on his shoulder._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I know it’s hard man, but you’ll be alright. I’m watching Peter for the night and you’ll be home before you know it. The team has your back so there is nothing to worry about” Rhodey said softly._ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony remained silent and caressed a hand over Peter’s cheek through the rails of the crib. He got up after a moment, glancing back at his sleeping son for a moment before stepping out of the room._ _ _ _ _ _

______Rhodey slapped him on his back before Tony went over to the elevator and downstairs so he could meet up with the others._ _ _ _ _ _

______When he stepped out of the elevator the others looked at him surprised. They probably hadn’t expected him to actually show up. Tony stood in front of the elevator with dark sunglasses and his poker face in place. This way the sunglasses would be hiding his red eyes and his face couldn’t reveal how he was feeling._ _ _ _ _ _

______No one said anything as they got on the quinjet some time later. The flight towards the base passed in almost complete silence apart from Natasha and Clint discussing the route._ _ _ _ _ _

______When they arrived at the base the sun was already up and high above the mountains. The base wasn’t hard to find either and they entered easily._ _ _ _ _ _

______They walked around for a while, following the same route the team had before._ _ _ _ _ _

______Steve called on the comms to assemble in the basement where they had found some files on their first mission._ _ _ _ _ _

______Natasha pointed to the scratch marks on the floor which would suggest some secret door._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’ll have JARVIS scan for any heat signatures or any form of tech nearby” Tony whispered._ _ _ _ _ _

______The others walked around the room, weapons drawn and scanning for any signs._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay, you guys aren’t going to like this... JARVIS found around five heat signatures behind this wall.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Everyone's breath caught at the news._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Five we can handle. I’d say we try to storm the base” Clint said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Agreed” Tony said, before forming a laser with his suit and breaking open the door._ _ _ _ _ _

______They walked through the heavy door drawing weapons and sweeping the first part before splitting up._ _ _ _ _ _

______“ JARVIS found a computer room a few doors over, I’m going to investigate” Tony said over the comms._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Don’t go in there alone Stark” Natasha replied._ _ _ _ _ _

______Clint and Natasha went right and Steve and Tony both went left. Pretty soon Tony was able to find the computer room and managed to break in while Steve continued to walk the hallways. It was almost too easy…_ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’ve got two guys coming from the south side of the building!” Steve yelled suddenly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Same here! Two on the east side!” Natasha called a second later._ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony ignored the comms, stepping out of the suit and letting it stand guard behind him._ _ _ _ _ _

______He quickly got to work on the outdated computers, trying to get as much information as he possibly could._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Two guys taken care of, I’ve reached a dead end, heading back now” Steve said_ _ _ _ _ _

______“This side is clear. Will check for the fifth heat signature” Natasha said as well._ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony however didn’t pay much attention to what was being said. He grabbed a USB from his pocket and plugging it into the portal. JARVIS made quick work of downloading everything he could and Tony stepped back for a second._ _ _ _ _ _

______Not hearing the fifth person creeping up behind him._ _ _ _ _ _

______The next few moments happened so quickly, he barely had the time to process what was about to happen. Heavy breathing reached his ears and his back went rigid. He turned his head slowly , seeing a man in heavy armor walking up to him with a huge weapon pointed straight at his head._ _ _ _ _ _

______The weapon suddenly seemed to charge with a blue bright light. The Iron man armor immediately jumped into action, raising his arm. Out of nowhere Tony was slammed into the floor, a loud bang shook the room._ _ _ _ _ _

______A ringing noise met his ears and for a moment he was convinced he got hit before a familiar voice reached his ears._ _ _ _ _ _

______“-Ony… Tony! Answer me!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______All at once his senses seemed to come back online. He looked around the room, noticing that Steve was just getting up as well, shield still raised._ _ _ _ _ _

______The HYDRA agent laid unconscious on the floor, the arms of the Iron man suit lowering._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Are you alright Tony?” Steve asked urgently._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Y-Yeah I’m fine” Tony said, grabbing ahold of the outstretched hand.  
The others suddenly barged into the room as well._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Is it time for a code green?” Bruce yelled urgently over the comms_ _ _ _ _ _

______“What the hell happened?” Clint called out_ _ _ _ _ _

______“This is why you don’t go in alone Tony!” Natasha said, slapping the back of his head. “We protect each other!”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Guys?!” Bruce spoke up urgently again_ _ _ _ _ _

______“No Banner, everything’s fine” Steve reassured._ _ _ _ _ _

______“W-What happened?” Tony stuttered._ _ _ _ _ _

______“The last heat signature! Remember?” Natasha said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Natasha… The last guy, Tony. He creeped up on you. Your armor was able to knock him out before he could cause any harm” Steve sais, lowering his voice._ _ _ _ _ _

______“And Spangles here just saved your ass” Clint said, getting up from where he was tying up the guard._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Do you guys need any help?” Bruce asked over the comms._ _ _ _ _ _

______“No Bruce, we’re heading back now. We cleared most of the base. I think SHIELD can handle the rest. No real Avengers level threat anymore.” Natasha said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“It wasn’t really an Avengers level threat to begin with” Clint murmured_ _ _ _ _ _

______The next few moments happened in kind of a blur. Tony couldn’t really remember how he got back on the quinjet, but he knew that he was safe._ _ _ _ _ _

______And that the team has his back._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You alright?” Clint asked, handing him some water._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah, I think so” Tony replied, accepting the water._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We have your back Stark. Nothing happened, the suit saved you and so did Cap. Next time just trust us.” Natasha said, squeezing his shoulder. “Make sure you go home to your kid alright? We have your back. Just be more careful next time”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Thank you guys. I was just a bit lost in my head”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“That is understandable” Steve said smiling._ _ _ _ _ _

______“We are a team after all. We can trust each other” Bruce said, placing a blanket over his shoulder and handing some more to the others._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yeah” Tony replied absentmindedly._ _ _ _ _ _

______The quinjet lapsed in a comfortable silence again. Natasha informed Fury about the this time successful mission before it went quiet again._ _ _ _ _ _

______Tony however was lost in his thoughts._ _ _ _ _ _

______“The quinjet is now in autopilot. Anybody want to share some information? Discuss the mission?” Clint asked, getting up from the controls, followed by Natasha._ _ _ _ _ _

______They sat down in the chairs as well looking around at the others. Steve shook his head, Bruce did too. They were now looking at Tony. He was still looking like he was trying to drill a hole on the floor._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Tony?” Steve spoke up._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Her name was Mary. Mary Fitzpatrick.”_ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY! Ahhh cliffhanger! 
> 
> This one was a lot longer than the rest because a lot happened and I didn't want to leave you guys waiting :)  
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'm not quite sure about the ending so let me know what you think!
> 
> (I also haven't properly checked yet so feel free to point out any mistakes, I will fix it tomorrow morning, but I need to go to bed right now...) 
> 
> The world is a crazy place right now, so please take care of yourself and those around you. Be true to yourself and others. Every life, every soul matters. So does yours <3  
> You are loved. 
> 
> Lots of love,
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts


	10. Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony tells the team about what happened with Mary. After that he finally tells the rest of the world his biggest secret...
> 
> _Previously on Tony Stark, Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist and... father?:_  
>  They sat down in the chairs as well looking around at the others. Steve shook his head, Bruce did too. They were now looking at Tony. He was still looking like he was trying to drill a hole on the floor.
> 
> _“Tony?” Steve spoke up._
> 
> _“Her name was Mary. Mary Fitzpatrick.” ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The finale! And it's a long one :)
> 
> Note: slight trigger warning (TW) to mentions of depression. It's not major I think, but be aware and take care of yourself <3
> 
> This is the finale, so be prepared! 
> 
> I want to mention again that English is not my first language, so don't be afraid to point out any mistakes!

“Her name was Mary. Mary Fitzpatrick.  
I thought she was the love of my life. She was the mother of my child but…”

“Tony you don’t have to do this now” Steve interrupted.

“No, I feel like I do. I don’t think I can tell everything on my own just now, but... I at least need to get some of it off my chest.”

“If you’re sure” Clint assured.

“Her name was Mary Fitzpatrick. She died when Peter was just six months old… I thought she was the love of my life, but turns out I was wrong. Very wrong.  
She was a scientist. A good one as well. She had just recently broken up too and…”

Tony stared off into the distance, fumbling with his hands and words. 

“Our relationship… It all went very fast. We met at a bar, we were broth drunk, she gave me her phone number and left. We got together after just two weeks of dating. We uh… She… S-She wanted kids. Always wanted kids and I-I fell for it. She…”

“Tony, Tony. Calm down. We’ll talk about this when we get back okay?” Bruce rejoined. 

He nodded and slumped in his chair. He never even realised he had fallen asleep, until Steve shook him awake announcing their arrival. 

He stood up quickly and staggering a bit, but Steve grabbed his arm, before he could stumble.  
The sun was just about to go down so Peter was maybe still awake, especially if Rhodey knew they were coming.

The team quickly gathered in the elevator, luckily no one had gotten hurt so a trip to the Med-Bay was unnecessary. 

“To the penthouse, JAR” Tony rushed out. 

They rode the elevator up in silence, Tony’s eyes shooting around the confined room and fumbling with his hands. After what felt like forever, JARVIS announced their arrival.

Tony squeezed himself through the doors, quickly hurrying towards the living room where he could see Rhodey and faintly hear Peter.

He rounded the corner, eyes immediately fixed on his son standing at the table.  
He didn’t even really notice Rhodey getting up from the couch and the others walking up behind him.

Peter quickly noticed his father, oblivious to his wild and worried eyes. 

“Peter...” Tony breathed out

“Dada!” Peter called out excited, waving his hands around in glee.  
He let go of the table, now standing on two chubby legs without any support.

Tony’s smile widened at the sight.

“Hi Dada!” He called out again. The next thing that happened surprised everyone. Peter waved again, taking two tiny steps forward before falling down, but still catching himself.

Rhodey laughed in disbelief, Tony just stood shocked before quickly moving forward and picking Peter up. He kissed his son all over his soft face, making him giggle at the scratchy beard. 

“What are you still doing awake bambino? You should be sleeping huh? Don’t worry, I’ll allow it this time baby” Tony said softly, hugging the precious baby close.

“I tried to get him to sleep and I think he may have slept for an hour or so, but I think he missed his dad too so he woke up and has been awake since.” Rhodey spoke up, looking around the room.

He walked over to Tony and Peter, and tightly gripped Tony’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re back man.”

“I am too…” Tony smiled. “I uh… I want to tell them about Mary” He murmured after a moment, staring in Rhodey's eyes.

Rhodey stepped back a little at that. He raised his eyebrows “You sure about that man?”

“Yeah. I uh… I think I can trust them now”

“Okay. Okay, sure let me just text Pepper or something but put Peter to bed first alright man?”

“I will”

The man walked out of the room, shoulders finally relaxed. Rhodey glanced a look at the team still standing at the entrance of the living room. “Good to see you guys again” He said with a tight smile. “Sit down if you want, this might take a while”

The team did. After seeing the man of iron so relaxed with his baby they felt a sudden sense of guilt. Guilt for keeping him away from the person that mattered most.  
It was now that they also noticed a small device on the table, showing what seemed to be the nursery.

“Is that the baby monitor?” Natasha asked.

“It is” Rhodey answered. “I had put Peter down for the night hence the monitor, but like I said he woke up not much later crying and fussy. I just forgot to turn it off“ He reached forward grabbing the monitor of the table. 

“Why does he have a baby monitor if he has JARVIS?” Clint asked curiously, leaning back on the couch.

“The fear of a new parent I guess. He trusts JARVIS with basically his life, but when it comes to Peter he can never be too safe. Oh look here he comes” Rhodey said, turning the baby monitor towards the others. 

You could see Tony carrying a very tired Peter in his arms as if he was just months old. He probably changed him before coming into the room since he only just walked into the view of the small camera.

He was rocking Peter softly, his little head resting against his chest and face illuminated by the soft blue light of the arc reactor. He had the fondest of looks on his face.

Steve was just about to ask if the thing had audio, when a soft voice met their ears.  
Tony was… Humming? 

“Oh wow” Rhodey smiled

They all listened with fascination to the man humming and then singing a lullaby to his baby. Natasha recognized it to be an old Italian lullaby.

“This was a song Tony’s mom used to sing to him. I know because I saw a few baby videos of him” Rhodey smiled.

“Did he have a good relationship with his mom?” Steve asked.

“With his mom, yes. With his dad? Not so much. I think that man yelled and threw punches more than he actually talked to him” Rhodey replied, purposefully not making eye contact with the man out of time, who sunk down a bit. 

They watched and listened to Tony as he softly sung and rocked Peter to sleep. He then placed Peter down, caressing his young face. They both looked at ease.

“Oh I should text Pepper!” Rhodey suddenly remembered.

Not much later everyone sat down on the couch, waiting in anticipation.

Tony sighed and wiped a hand over his face before starting “Well like I said earlier, her name was Mary Fitzpatrick. She died in a plane crash when Peter was just six months old. Our relationship moved fast. I-... After Pepper and I broke up… It left a hole that I couldn't deal with. It left me broken more than I'd like to admit, and I honestly believed I could never love someone like that again. I just wanted to fix the ache in my chest that _for once _didn’t come from the stupid car battery.” Tony told them, rubbing a hand over his arc reactor. He stared off on the distance, never noticing that Pepper had walked in just in time to hear his confession. She stood at the elevator door before she stepped closer, never saying anything and just sitting down in a chair opposite to Tony. Tony bit his lip, seeing her from the corner of his eye. He realized then that she likely heard everything he had said but was too afraid to say in front of her. He took a deep breath and continued.__

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“We met at a bar. We just got talking so easily. She was into bioengineering, really knew what she was talking about while also having no trouble in following me. We started dating after that night and got together two weeks later. I really thought I found the love of my life. For so long I _believed _her to be the love of my life” Anger flashed through his eyes for a split second before taken over by sadness. Pepper shifted uncomfortably in her chair as well.__

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____“She had just broken up with her boyfriend Richard. He was some form of scientist, met at work, you know the drill. After just two months of dating she told me she wanted a kid.  
With me… I told her it was crazy and that I could never be a father. I was just happy to be in a relationship. I was numbed. She told me she was on the pill, but wanted to try anyway. If a baby was going to happen it was going to be a miracle.  
She just forgot to mention that she hadn’t been taking them properly. Or maybe it was on purpose I don’t know.  
When she told me the news I was scared. I tried to hide away for awhile and she did the same. Eventually we got together and decided to raise this baby together. _ _ _ _

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____We were happy? We built the nursery together, went to every doctor's appointment together. I thought ‘well this is my life now. I believed I had found my true purpose. Mary also seemed to be flourishing, she had many breakthroughs at work and I believed that was also the reason she wasn’t home much. But maybe I was just too dumb to realise that there was more going on”_ _ _ _

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____Rhodey winced a bit at the self-deprecating. Clearly both he and Pepper were closely involved in the story. It was also very clear they cared so much about him._ _ _ _

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____“Peter was born a month early, at around 33 weeks. The labour was a tough one and Peter was taken to the ICU immediately. He has been having some health issues ever since his birth but at the beginning he mostly struggled with breathing. I don’t even fully remember when it was time for us to take Peter home, I was just so in love with the little man that all I cared about was that he was coming home.”_ _ _ _

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____He paused a bit at the memory “When Peter was around two months old I started noticing things... Mary wasn’t around much, she was at work most of the time… Often left late at night so that I woke up to an empty bed and was more often than not the one to get out of bed everytime Pete cried. I believe Peter was four months old when I truly started catching her lies. Fury came to me one night to inform me that Mary had attempted to hack into SHIELD and steal important information… At the time I didn’t want to believe him because I was still madly in love with the woman I thought was the one. But obviously knowing that, I started doubting our relationship. The people around me had noticed way before me that she was acting strange and that something was going on. As is turned out… As it turned out she was cheating on me with Richard. She went back to him at around the time she was 7 months pregnant. Richard couldn’t get kids and I believe that was also the reason they broke up in the first place. But not only did she cheat, she had also been stealing my money for months… The worst thing though?____

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The absolute _worst _thing, was that I found out she had been planning to leave me for Richard and try to get full custody of Peter. Knowing my history she would have likely won the custody battle too. She wanted to steal my baby.” His voice cracked at the end.  
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___Tony’s eyes got shiny with tears and he was breathing heavily. Rhodey who was sitting next to him rubbed his back in sympathy. Rhodey was biting his lip at seeing his friend in so much pain. The others were looking at him in complete shock…The silence was deafening.  
The sun had already gone down and stars shone in the night. Everyone remained silent. Giving Tony the space he needed to continue his story. _ _ _

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“Obviously I wanted some form of revenge” Tony’s voice broke through. “I didn’t know how to tell her and what to tell her. So I decided to confront her about hacking into SHIELD. I found out she had made many more attempts and what she and Richard _did _find is still unknown to this day. Bruce you probably know the man… Richard Parker” Bruce sat back at that. He looked both shocked and horrified. Richard Parker was known to be, what you would call a mad scientist__

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________“I confronted her and she tried to deny it but… She and Richard took a plane the very next day to get out of America in a last minute attempt to outrun SHIELD. They never succeeded though. Their plane crashed nearly two hours after taking off. God, I hated myself for being happy that she died. Even if it was for a split second, but damn I was relieved.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________Everyone let the information sink in for a moment. It was a lot coming at them all at once. No one realy knew how to act and what to ask.  
This obviously layed heavily on Tony's heart and one mistake could cause him to closse in on himself, leaving the chapter unfinished._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“What happened after they died?” Bruce asked hesitantly_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I got depressed” Tony blurted out. “I didn’t think I could raise Peter on my own. I was… Afraid of becoming a horrible father to him. For weeks after her death I struggled to get out of bed. If it wasn’t for Rhodey, Pepper and even Happy…. I don’t know what would have happened. For a long time I struggled. Both with the loss of the mother of my child and the fact that I was a single father. The next months flew by with a lot of ups and downs. Peter’s health has caused many issues and we’ve had quite a few trips to the ER in his short life, but I also got to see him grow up." Tony paused for a moment"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________"There are still days where I am just so angry and frustrated. I hated Mary. Sometimes I still do, but she did also give me the best thing that could ever happen to me. Peter has changed my life. He gave it purpose. Peter alongside with my friends who stood by my side through everything, make my life worth it.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________Tony slowly lifted his head from where he was staring a hole in the table. The other's faces ranged from shocked to almost pained. Pepper tried to hide her red eyes, Steve was just staring at a wall. Rhodey was looking at his friend proudly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________This may very well be the first time he told the entire story._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________Tony let out a deep sigh, slumping down in the couch exhausted._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Why did you keep Peter a secret though? If you don’t mind me asking” Natasha spoke up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I guess I just wanted to protect him. My name is a very well known name, but that includes the people who would just try to harm the people closest to me… I thought it was better to only have a few people know about him. That way no one would know he even existed and hopefully no one would try to hurt him.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________Everyone nodded “What changed?” Bruce asked._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“What changed? At first you kept Peter a secret from us, from everyone really, and then you only kept the story about Mary a secret. What made you change your mind to tell us?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Well I didn’t really have a choice in whether or not I would tell you guys about Peter” Tony smirked, making everyone look down in guilt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“But I guess I didn’t really try hard enough anyway... Pepper told me or rather yelled at me that Peter should meet more people in his life and it wasn’t healthy to isolate him the way I did” Tony continued glancing a look towards Pepper. “I guess that is the reason I even let you guys meet Peter instead of throwing you out. And about Mary? I guess this mission just showed me I can actually trust you guys. I’m still afraid… Terrified actually, that something might happen to my baby…” Tony admitted softly_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Well he's got the best family in the world watching over him and protecting him” Natasha spoke up with a gentle smile._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Yeah! He’s got two spies, Captain America, the Hulk, War Machine, Pepper Potts, probably even the god when Thor finds out, and even the great Iron man looking out for him” Clint cackled, counting on his fingers_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I guess he does” Tony smiled_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Don’t forget about Nick Fury” Steve spoke up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Well I’m not so sure about that anymore”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“You will be” Natasha replied._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“How about a drink?” Rhodey said getting up from the couch, getting a affirmatives from everyone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Non-alcohol for me please” Tony spoke up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I know man” Rhodey smiled, handing him a non-alcoholic drink._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I raise this toast to this crazy superhero family!” Steve laughed, raising his glass_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Cheers!” Everyone said in unison._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________They talked for the rest of the night only to be interrupted by a distressed cry coming from the baby monitor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Oh that’s my cue” Tony said, setting down his glass and moving to get up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I think it might be a dirty diaper, he had quite a lot of warm milk earlier.” Rhodey spoke up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Oh great”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“... And because he probably misses his dad” Rhodey continued once the man had disappeared out of the room. That caused a smile to form on everyone’s face._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________They could see Peter reach for Tony before he got carried somewhere out of view of the camera._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“He has changed a lot hasn’t he?” Natasha asked Pepper._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“He has” Pepper sighed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________Later that night, or early in the morning depending on how you look at it long after both the Avengers and Rhodey had retreated back to their floors, leaving Pepper and Tony alone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________For a long time neither said anything. That was until Pepper spoke up._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I’m proud of you Tony. I know this wasn’t easy for you.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“Thank you” he said softly, not daring to look her in the eye._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I guess I never realised…-” She started. “I guess I never realised how much our break up affected you Tony…”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________No reply._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“I never meant to hurt you-” She said, only to be interrupted_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________“No, no that’s not… Pepper you were it for me. I understood why you would break up with me, I mean I am a wreck-”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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________This time it was Pepper who interrupted him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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“You know that’s not true Tony. I care about you too. I just couldn’t see you risk your life like it was nothing. Like it meant nothing. Because it _did _mean something. To me, to Rhodey. Still does”__

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__________“You know… Even when I was Mary there were still so many times where I wondered about what I did wrong. I mean it was kind of obvious but still… I was blinded by a new love, which wasn’t even love to begin with, but when Mary became more absent even at the beginning… I started to miss you. Really miss you. I still do...”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“I miss you too”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________Tony looked up in her sympathetic eyes before his face scrunched up in despair. Pepper walked over quickly, sitting next to him and hugging him close. Tony dug his face in her shoulder and held onto her waist tightly, while she smoothed a hand through is hair._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________He cried. He cried for what he lost, for all the struggle and the pain._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“I love you Pepper”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“I love you too”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________Tony sat up again as Pepper wiped away some of his tears “We… I want to try again. I’ll promise I’ll be better”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“You’re already good enough Tony. Seeing how you are with Peter just made me realise how much I missed being with you. You did change, but you changed in someone so amazing. You made me fall in love with you all over again.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Do you want to try this again?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Yes” Pepper smiled with tears in her eyes._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __

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__________A week or so went by in which nothing really happened for once._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________In the meantime, Pepper and Tony talked. They talked about what had happened and figured out how to move forward._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________They also discussed a press conference. A big one._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________Or really one with big news._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________Two weeks later it was time.  
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__________Tony stood nervously in the room leading up to the conference room. He wrung his hands, fixed his glasses, straightened his tie, his suit…_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________That morning he had talked to Fury._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“I think you made the right decision Stark. You should know that Peter will be safe”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Didn’t think you’d care”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“I do Stark. Always have.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Then why did you send me on that mission? Why did you take me away from my child?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“You needed to understand that you have team you can trust on. You trust them don’t you?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“So yes I can trust them, but what about you then? You were the one who sent me”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“I did. And I don’t regret it. Before you interrupt me Stark… I had a reason. You have so much more inside of you that you don’t even realise. I sent you on that mission to make you realise that you are not alone anymore. I talked to the team beforehand. I told them that sending you on this mission was a huge step and a huge risk. I told them that they needed to show you what a true team is like. I feel like they did that. Now it is up to you to understand that.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________He rubbed a tired hand over his eyes…_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“You’ll do fine Tony” Pepper reassured him with Peter on her hip.  
The kid had moo moo in one hand and the other was holding onto her shirt. He was smiling at his father, easing his nerves. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Alright… Let’s do this”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________Tony stood in front of the room confidently and quickly got to the point._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Welcome everyone. You may be wondering why I have called you here today.” He took a breath “I want everyone to meet someone. Someone important. I would like to ask for your respect and to please not yell or take any pictures without my consent. I also won’t be answering any questions. Is that clear?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________The room nodded._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Okay” Tony said, stepping of the pedestal behind the microphone.  
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__________Tony however crouched down to the little guy coming through the door in front of him. Peter only recently started walking and still fell from time to time. This time though he walked over to his dad without any problem. Smiling broadly and excitedly._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________Tony hugged him to his chest, taking a moment for just the two of them.  
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__________Everyone gasped and reached for their camera’s but one sharp look made them stop._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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__________“Today I want you to meet someone.” He looked up  
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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like Frodo Baggins once said... It is done!
> 
> Well what do you think! I've been working on this last chapter for multiple days so I truly hope you enjoyed it!  
> The story is now officialy finished, I might still edit some things here and there but there won't be a next chapter.
> 
> At least not in this story ;)
> 
> More to come!!! 
> 
> I'll let you in on a little secret... Here is the title and idea for a next work in this same universe:  
> Thunderbolts and lightning very very frightening me!: Peter finally gets to meet the god of thunder. Better known as Thor. How will this go? 
> 
> Feel free to leave kudos, comments and check out my other works too! 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! 
> 
> Keep smiling, and let's be grateful for today and hopeful for tomorrow.
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts

**Author's Note:**

> Here you have it!  
> I hope you enjoyed reading this new work, more chapters are coming! (The picture used is from Pinterest, credits don't belong to me)
> 
> This is more of a preview so let me know what you think! I don't think chapter updates will take long, so be sure to come back for that! 
> 
> Feel free to check out my other work too! I would love to know what you think.
> 
> As always, keep smiling and let's enjoy today!
> 
> O Penny4yourThoughts  
> 


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